


Wish We Could Stay

by Friendlylycanthrope



Series: Let's Talk About It [28]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catra Redemption, F/F, Poly Relationship, Portal reality, Super Pal Trio (She-Ra), my take on how it should have gone, off-screen violence, the portal event but different
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Friendlylycanthrope/pseuds/Friendlylycanthrope
Summary: The Immigration brought the Horde to their knees. The Rebellion is one good victory away from ending the war for good. Knowing this, Hordak is getting desperate, which makes him even more dangerous.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Let's Talk About It [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714624
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

  
  


Their mission took them far from Bright Moon, all the way to the kingdom of Diamond Crest. It was a full day’s journey from dawn to dusk just to get there. The four of them were here on official rebellion business, to meet with a diplomat who claimed to have valuable intel they were willing to trade on the horde in exchange for rebellion protection. 

The diplomat was of little consequence, a lesser known name who couldn’t have ruled more than a few hundred people at most. Their mediocre nature of their work led them to fall into obscurity, and nobody could seem to remember sharing more than a few brief words with them in the past. 

Catra knew that there was no way some foreign mayor could know more about the Fright Zone than she did. Adora thought it peculiar that this contact had never mentioned anything to them about it before now. And Glimmer was starting to realize that her girlfriends were both on edge. Bow was the only one who seemed content in the fact that stranger things had happened to them before. 

It was night when they arrived. The city was peaceful, the time of year they were covered in a dusting of snow and most people had gone inside to avoid the cold. The streetlights illuminated the snow crystals gently, and in the distance one could see off the cliffside that met the ocean, also sparkling like diamonds as it moved under the moonlight, giving the city its name. The houses were tall and narrow, squished together like sandwich layers, and mostly in calm earth tones. They saw less than a dozen people as they walked the cobblestone paths downtown, where the buildings became taller and the streets wider. They would be accommodated by the Mayor who had invited them, and were heading towards his home. It looked so similar to the other houses that they passed by it the first time without realizing.

Their knock on the door was answered almost immediately, by a staff member of the house wearing all black with a white apron. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a stern face. Perhaps it was the disapproving look he gave them, or perhaps it was the two parallel scars that ran horizontally across his cheek. His black hair was buzzed short and close to his skull, and one of his black eyebrows raised at the gang, clearly waiting for them to speak. 

Catra became alert, focusing in on his face with a slight gasp. Glimmer cleared her throat. 

“Good evening!” She greeted cordially, as she was trained. “I am Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. My friends and I have come to speak with Mayor Cleartide.” She offered the letter to him, the one that entailed how to come find his home and what their meeting would entail. Catra squinted suspiciously at him, trying to discern his face. He didn’t even glance at the letter, but stepped aside to let them all into the foyer. 

“There are... more of you than I thought.” Was all he said, in a foreign accent. He showed them to a living room where he instructed them to sit and wait for Mayor Cleartide as he fetched him. Catra refused to sit down as she investigated the room. 

The wallpaper was dark green, with floral patterns in a reflective gold that trailed thin lines along the walls. There was ample room to move around the velvet blue furniture, and an upright piano near the only window. The lanterns on the wall were gaslit, and offered a calm yellow light in contrast to the bright white reflections on the snow outside. 

“I don’t trust this.” Catra grumbled, pacing the shag rug. “I swear, that guy’s voice sounds familiar. Did he seem off to you?”

“He didn’t seem happy that all of us came.” Adora agreed, rubbing her chin in thought. “The letter was actually just addressed to me. I just thought that it was assumed we would go as a group.” Catra slung an arm around Adora’s shoulders affectionately. 

“Your one brain cell must have worked so hard on that.” She smirked at her girlfriend. Adora would have said something sly while she pushed Catra away (even though she was blushing) but then they Mayor entered. 

An older man in robes that must have denoted his position came and placed a tray with a tea set on the coffee table.

“Thank you so much for coming all this way. It is such a journey from Bright Moon, surely you didn’t all have to come here, just to come hear old me,” He shook each of their hands in turn, his sweating palms bobbing their hands up and down with vigor. 

“Mr. Mayor, no trouble at all,” Bow reassured. “It’s an honor to see your lovely town this time of year.”

“Speak for yourself, my feet are freezing.” Catra grumbled behind Bow. 

“Well maybe if you wore actual footwear,” Glimmer chastised in a whisper. Then, more confidently to the mayor, “I have to admit, that your letter was strange and concerning. So we made it a priority to come as soon as we could.”

They soon found themselves all with a cup of steaming tea in their hands, one that gave off a sweet flowery aroma. Glimmer and Bow sat on the couch while Catra leaned on the back of the couch. Adora hung back a bit, still looking around the room while listening to the conversation, as Cleartide took a seat in an armchair that was facing all of them.

“I hate to concern you.” He said, looking sadly at his own tea. “It’s not so much that it should bother the Princess of Bright Moon really, just a few matters to get sorted out.”

The flavor of the tea seemed to warm them right up from the cold outside, and even Catra took a sip. 

“Well, if it concerns the horde, it may help us in the war.” Adora said politely. “And matters of the war are seen as top priority to all of us. The Immigration brought the Horde to their knees, but we still need anything we can get for one more solid victory.”

Catra leaned on the back of the sofa that Bow and Glimmer were on, and Glimmer took the opportunity to squeeze her hand proudly until she smiled at her good work. The Immigration had hurt Hordak, badly. He had lost almost three quarters of his soldiers and those that remained were on thin ice, given how slow he was to trust, especially after an incident that would betray him. She deserved to be proud, the horde was closer than ever before to crumbling under the weight of the rebellion. 

Then she caught the look of Cleartide, as he glanced out the doorway. His servant was just out of view in the shadows, but he nodded and backed away out of sight. Cleartide looked back at his tea, untouched. Catra again racked her brain to find why she recognized the servant, but wherever the answer lay still remained just outside her grasp. She knew that his voice gave her chills, and she sipped more warm tea to help cover it up. 

She stood to her full height again and placed her cup in the saucer she held, pacing around some more. Her cold feet relished in the softness of the rug, and perhaps that was why her steps were more lazy than her usual deliberate stealthy stalk as she let her toes drag through the shaggy threads.

“I’m sure that we can discuss those matters at a different time.” Cleartide insisted. He adjusted his glasses and checked the time on the wall. “It’s been a long day I’m sure; you should rest up first.”

Adora said something, but Catra could hardly hear it. She was more concentrated on keeping her feet underneath her while the floor tilted dangerously. They all stood up and Glimmer said something with extreme grogginess in her voice, stifling a yawn. 

“We appreciate... your hospi... tali..ty.” She struggled to keep her eyes open. This far away from the Moonstone, she would get tired much faster, and they had walked the whole way here. But she wasn’t the only one who was having trouble staying alert. 

Adora blinked and the servant who answered the door was in the room, standing next to the mayor. 

Bow hit the floor first, with a thud that seemed to alert all of them slightly to the danger, but not enough to snap them out of their stupor. The tea cups all fell soon after. Catra wobbled to her knees, the floor swaying in her vision as she struggled to remain upright while she fixed the mayor and the servant with a betrayed look. 

“Wha... in’th’... teee....” Then she followed Bow into unconsciousness. 

“I’m sorry!” The Mayor cried nervously. “I had no choice, my family!” 

“Glimmer,” Adora slurred. “Get th’m out ‘f here,” She instructed as she tried to grab the sword on her back. Glimmer was closer to the center of the room, where Bow and Catra had already collapsed, while Adora was still some paces away. Glimmer clutched her head painfully while she lurched forward. Then she landed on hand on each of her friends, and instantly vanished. 

Adora tried to push through the grogginess of the drug, hoping that Glimmer would remain awake after the teleport just long enough to come back for her. But the last thing she saw was the carpet rushing up to meet her face before everything went dark. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak's intentions become clear, and the Best Friend Squad makes a rescue plan.

  
  


It took all the energy that Glimmer had to get the three of them to Bright Moon. To be honest, it took everything she had to get just outside of Bright Moon, as her reach was just out of bounds of the castle from Diamond Crest. Between the drug and the taxing use of her powers, she immediately blacked out, with Bow in one arm and Catra in the other. 

The townspeople found them, and hurried them to the castle, where they were received in a panic back at their home. A quick check with the physicians showed no physical harm, and the effects of a fast acting sedative in their systems. They promised Angella that it would pass harmlessly within a few hours. That didn’t stop her from hovering anxiously over her daughter while she rested. She stayed there with her for three hours, until it was the middle of the night, waiting for any of them to wake up and tell her what had happened that led to this, and where was Adora? 

They started to wake up foggily, all in cots lined next to each other, hazy memories coming back to them. It took a while to realize where they were, and longer to realize how they got there. They tried their best to catch up the Queen. 

“That voice, I knew I recognized it!” Catra said. “He was wearing a mask when he tried to kill me last time. He’s with Hordak! There’s a special black ops stealth team that only Hordak commands, called the Shadow Elite. Nobody else in the horde even knows about them.”

“How do you know about it?” Angella asked. Catra’s ears turned down. 

“I was recruited to join them... it's extremely rare that they take new members.” She confessed. “But I didn’t make the cut. Something about an explosive ego problem..” She rolled her eyes. “Then later they tried to kill me when Hordak discovered my plan for the coup. If it wasn’t for Scorpia and Entrapta interfering, I wouldn’t have made it out to the woods alive. Of course, none of them came in the Immigration... they’re all incredibly loyal to Hordak. He probably had to use them again now that he can’t trust anyone.”

“Cleartide mentioned his family,” Bow pointed out. “The Shadow Elite is probably holding them hostage so that they could set a trap for us!”

“And now they have Adora,” Glimmer said weakly. She looked down at her hands and snapped her fingers, making the faintest fizzle of magic sparks. Being closer to the Moonstone helped, but she was still out of energy. 

“We have to go back for her.” Catra stood up abruptly, making the edges of her vision darken while she found her balance. She forced the uneasy sensation down. “I think I know why Hordak wants Adora.”

  
  


***

  
  


Adora was unwilling to wake up for the first time in her life. She came to the sensation of an extremely uncomfortable position before she opened her eyes, and part of her wondered if she could be comfortable if she just went back to sleep. Her shoulders ached, but not from a workout, more like they were in an uncomfortable position that was cutting off circulation to her hands. She whined slightly at the pains that it caused, and tried to roll over into Catra and Glimmer, knowing the two of them could lure her to sleep. But she found herself incapable of moving in such a way, and then she started to wake up more when she panicked at her predicament. 

She blinked her eyes open several times, hoping to clear the grainy images around her. She could make out a harsh bright light reflecting on cool green metals that totally surrounded her. A low but oh so familiar and almost comforting hum of machinery filled the air and vibrated through the walls. It was a sound she had realized that she missed when she came to the giant, empty halls of Bright Moon, where she was expected to sleep all alone in a quiet castle. Now, it made her stomach turn over.

It was difficult to strain her eyes and force them to focus. Where in the Fright Zone was she? She was raised here after all, perhaps she still knew enough to get herself out of here. 

She sat on the floor, leaning back on a pipe in a painful position while her wrists were bound together.

The room had a tall ceiling, and was octagonal shaped. She couldn’t see the entrance, so it must have been behind her, out of view, as she was somewhere in the middle of the room. Around her were massive machines, bigger than tanks. In one area there was a line of pod shaped glass containers big enough for a person to fit in, all glowing and full of eerie green liquid. Across the whole area, cables and hoses and wires were connecting everything she could see.

Her panic only rose as she realized the exact nature of her predicament. 

She was being held prisoner in Hordak’s lab. 

She couldn’t see Hordak from where she was, but she could hear him nearby. He was present in the sound of his labored breathing, his growls of frustration coming right before a deafening crash of clanking metal and shattering glass. Adora struggled against the restraints, but she was still weak from the drug, and her trademark strength failed her. 

A thought came to her, and she desperately looked around the room for the sword. It wasn’t on her, that much should have been obvious, but she could still hear its faint hum of magic under the thrum of machinery, calling out to her, wanting to return to her side. It was difficult to make out anything in the mess of the lab, but she was sure it was in the room. She could feel it. If she could just get the sword, she could break out and---

Hordak’s growling frustration quickly turned into a furious roar, halting Adora’s thoughts. At the same time, the sword of protection was flung across the room, spinning through the air until it collided noisily with the wall before falling to hit all the machines below it. Adora couldn’t help the gasp of shock that came out of her when she was startled by it, flinching from the sounds of destruction. Following her gasp, footsteps, metallic and heavy, came closer to her.

Hordak appeared right next to her so suddenly that she was alarmed a second time, and he grabbed her shirt collar with his clawed hand to hold up her body imposingly. 

“You’re finally awake.” He scowled at her. 

“Lord Hordak!” Later, she would kick herself for falling into old Fright Zone habits that she was raised with by referring to him as Lord. Right now, she had more pressing concerns. 

“You will tell me how to activate the power from the sword!” He demanded, inches from her face. 

“What?” Adora said. “I don’t know how---”

“You will not lie to me!” Hordak screamed, throwing her back down to the floor where she remained handcuffed to the pipe. He stalked away a few paces before stopping at the computers near where the sword had fallen. “You cannot begin to imagine the time I have put into finding a power source for the portal!” Adora’s eyes went wide with shock. “I will not be stopped by any more princesses!” 

A moment’s hesitation passed between them before Adora made a realization. 

“Any...  _ more _ Princesses?” She asked. Clearly it was on the right track, as the change in Hordak was immediate. He clawed a purple crystal from his chest armor, and threw it onto the ground without averting his gaze from the monitors. Even though she couldn't make out the inscription, she could tell from where she was that it was a First One’s data crystal. The same thing found at the core of all of Entrapta’s work.

“Where is Entrapta!” Adora demanded, finding some confidence. “What did you do to her!”

Hordak kept his back turned, and chuckled cruelly.

“That traitorous princess is getting whatever she deserves in the Crimson Wastes... I don’t  _ need _ her to finish the portal.”

The machinery parts around her were starting to take a more recognizable form, and looked to be a half-completed portal machine. She didn’t know what it would look like, but she knew that it was certainly an artificial gateway with First One’s power at its core. There was no doubt, Hordak meant to open a portal. 

“You can’t open the portal, it will destroy all of Etheria!” Adora pleaded desperately, struggling against her restraints again. “It will take you down with it!” 

Hordak whirled to face her again, and immediately punched her across the face so hard that Adora saw stars. 

“If I cannot conquer Etheria, then I shall _ destroy it! _ ” He bellowed. “I would sooner  _ die _ than become a failure!” He retrieved the sword again and stuck it in the ground in front of Adora, just out of her reach. “You will use She-Ra to unlock its power for me!”

“You don’t understand, that’s not how the sword works!” Adora protested, pulling against her restraints. 

“Then  _ make it  _ work!”

“You would have to untie me first.” Adora met his glare with one of her own. Challenging, holding her ground against him. The implication was clear in the static that jumped between them in the moments of silence. 

She was going to tear this place apart. 

Because Hordak failed the second that he hurt Catra. He had doomed himself as soon as he hurt Entrapta. And nobody hurt She-Ra’s friends. 

  
  


***

  
  


“Wait back up,” Bow said, making a time out motion with his hands. “When is the last time you heard from Entrapta?”

She had divulged to them the details of Entrapta’s reports in the time that it took to get Glimmer to the Moonstone. Entrapta had been slowing down Hordak’s work on the portal after she had learned of its extremely dangerous effects. She tried to distract him with other projects of theirs, but now she feared that the Princess might have been discovered. Now, she pulled out her communicator, Entrapta’s old recorder. 

“Every forty-eight hours, there’s an automatic message that will tell me or Scorpia that she’s in danger. She set it up when Hordak banished me when she realized that he couldn’t be trusted. And every forty-eight hours, she manually turns it off to let us know she’s okay. It’s been forty six and a half hours since I last  _ didn’t _ hear from her.”

“So if she’s in trouble, her message will get through?” Bow asked, still confused at how a message and not a message were the same thing. 

“In an hour and a half, we’ll know. If she was discovered or banished or hurt, her distress message will be sent. If we don’t hear anything then it’s just a coincidence.”

“What do you think those odds look like?” Glimmer asked, reaching out for Catra’s hand. Catra wanted to lie. But she was trying to be a better person. Glimmer was worth it. 

“If he’s using the Shadow Elite... it doesn’t look good.” She sighed. “We have to get there as soon as we can.”

“I can’t teleport us all there without stranding us.” Glimmer said. “We’ll have to find another way. What about Swift Wind?”

“I know from experience,” Bow said, rubbing his neck. “That he cannot handle carrying four people. He wouldn’t be able to fly us all out.”

Catra looked away for a second in thought.

“What about just two.” The other two looked like they wanted to argue, but Catra cut them off. “Just me and Glimmer. If she doesn’t use any magic, Glimmer can teleport out or at least to a safe distance for the three of us to get out.”

Bow looked nervous, like he was about to pee himself. 

“I don’t like the idea of staying behind but... if it’s to save Adora and possibly save the world, fine!”

Glimmer squeezed Catra’s hand encouragingly. They would do this together. In an hour and half they would know about Entrapta and in the meantime, recharge Glimmer’s powers. And then, they would strike. To take back their Adora. 

  
  


***

  
  


“You’ll never get it to yield to you.” Adora mocked in a threatening tone. “It will only respond to a First One. I’m the only one on the planet who can activate it and I will  _ never _ let you use its power.”

Hordak remained hunched over his keyboard, half a dozen monitors before him all displaying different data. Even with the sword hooked up to all his science, it still didn’t register as much more than a foreign metal, much less the avatar for the god of power. His readings altered and blinked unendingly before him as he growled in frustration at the useless figures before him. 

With a grunt, he abandoned his data, standing up. He was done trying the carrot. It was time to introduce the stick. He ripped the sword from its wires and held it as he approached Adora, and she looked nervous for half a second when she thought of what he was doing. 

“If you will not tell me your secrets, then I will force them out of you one way or another.” He scowled. For a second’s hesitation, a spark fired off brightly from his now defective suit of armor, and if it caused him pain, he did not show it. “If it will only react to the blood of a First One, then I shall test it by drawing it out of you.”

The blade that was at Adora’s chest started inching closer slowly, enough until it drew pain and Adora started to sweat nervously under the weight of her own weapon as it drew blood.

  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer and Catra rush to Adora's rescue

  
  


They were hardly met with any resistance when they flew over the Fright Zone. 

“There’s usually a gunman at the perimeter,” Catra explained over the wind to her girlfriend, who sat in front of her on the winged horse. “But there’s even less than a skeleton crew ever since the Immigration.”

The Fright Zone had never been worse than it was now. They lost not only all their soldiers, but all of their cadets who would usually take care of the chores, and it was piling up into mountains of garbage, unattended skiffs that kept breaking down that nobody knew how to repair, flooded pipes, and worse. After the Immigration had robbed the horde of so much, even those that were loyal to Hordak knew that it was a sinking ship, and more and more started to abandon until all that was left was between one and two hundred people on site doing the work of ten battalions. The Fright Zone was an empty husk of its former glory, and would never recover. 

They flew to the heart of the Fright Zone, where the tallest building, Hordak’s lab, pierced the ashy sky. 

“I can feel Adora,” Swift Wind said as he circled the tower. “She must be close! She needs help,”

“Yeah no  _ shit _ ,” Catra snapped. 

“Take us down.” Glimmer said. “Please.” 

They landed on a balcony that screamed with groaning metal under their weight. Glimmer and Catra jumped off. 

“You guys have a plan, right?” Swift Wind asked. His hooves nervously pawed at the metal, anxious about Adora. 

“I already told you,” Catra snapped, “Glimmer will save all her energy to get Adora out. You need to get me out.”

“I should have just enough energy to take myself and Adora all the way to Bright Moon, but only if I don’t use  _ any _ power for anything else.” Glimmer clarified. 

“Which is why I’m here: I’ll handle the fighting.” Catra said. “ _ You _ just need to not get compromised before we need to go. Glimmer will only have enough energy to take herself and Adora so you’re my exit plan once they're safe.” She pointed at the horse. She had known Swift Wind for a while now, mainly through Razz, but it was no secret that they disliked each other. They just happened to have the same interest in people to hang out with. Swift Wind fluffed his wings, stretching them out after the long flight here. 

“I know, but shouldn’t we have a backup plan?” He asked. “What if something goes wrong; something  _ always _ goes wrong!”

“There’s no time.” Catra huffed. “I would love a backup plan, but every minute we spend not rescuing Adora is another minute wasted. We can’t let him open the portal.”

She turned to enter the building, where Glimmer opened a door to a darkened hallway. She held her hand out to Catra.

“Are you ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

  
  


***

  
  


Catra knew her way around like she had never left. There was nobody in the halls to stop them, but most of the lights had burnt out long ago, and the halls they navigated slowly snaked further into the building, away from windows. 

“I--hang on, I can’t see a thing,” Glimmer said. She considered lighting up a ball of magic at her fingertips, but Catra stopped her by grabbing her hand at the last second. 

“No, you have to save your power.” She reminded her. Even something as small and simple as light would need to be saved. “Here just, take my hand, okay?” 

“You can still see in this?”

“Yeah, mostly...” Catra said quietly. She led Glimmer carefully through abandoned halls that only Hordak had access to. Her ears twitched, pointing towards any sounds as they made their way in. 

“His lab is up ahead, past the throne room.” She explained softly. The absence of noise in the Fright Zone, a place she remembered as being full of sounds of stomping boots and humming machines, was setting her on edge. “He’s got to be keeping Adora there.”

She felt nothing as she passed by the stairs that lead to a single metal throne. She used to want that throne for herself, more than anything. She thought that having it would validate her, make her feel whole. But now, all she saw was a dusty chair. 

The doorway to the lab didn’t have anything to block their way, no locks or even a solid door. It was just a wide opening from one room to the next. There was dim electrical light from inside, and Catra and Glimmer both pressed their backs to the wall as they peered in cautiously. 

Glimmer could see in the light again, but her vision was obscured by heavy pipes and mountains of machines and inventions that piled high in the room. She and Catra both scanned over the chaotic scene of the room until they were sure the coast was clear. 

They snuck in and hid behind a desk full of multiple computer monitors, all flashing with data and schematics. There was no sign of Hordak in the room, hopefully they could get in and out without ever meeting him. 

They peered over the edge of the desk to look around more. Glimmer gasped with fright and Catra clamped a hand over her mouth.

...Still no sign of Hordak in the moment that followed the sound.

In the center of the room, they saw Adora. She was unconscious, and missing her usual red jacket. Half of her face was bruised and her lips were covered in blood from inside her mouth. Her hair was undone and messy, and they could see from her body that she had been tortured to within an inch of her life. Catra could tell even from their distance that she had broken fingers. Cuts, dirt, and bruises were peppered across her shirt until it was no longer white. There were footprints on her chest, outlined by the dirt and dust. The blood had stopped pouring from her wounds a while ago, forming a pool beneath her that outlined her own struggle and forming crusty, dried marks on all her skin and clothes. Her hands were tied together in front of her, but she had no strength to stand or flee. A few feet away, the Sword of Protection was sticking out of the ground, and did not reflect the light of the room on its metal surface for it was coated in her blood from blade to pommel. 

Glimmer shook like a leaf in the wind, feeling sick. Were they too late? But no, her breast gently rose and fell. Meanwhile Catra felt her fur fluff out in blind rage. Hordak had hurt Adora and for that, she would make him pay. 

Catra knew that Hordak did not exactly work silently. He was clearly not in the room if it was quiet. Once they were certain it was safe, they crept out of their hiding spot and moved across the great distance that held them apart. At the sound of footsteps, Adora stirred, blinking one eye open (as the other was swollen shut) and coughed weakly. 

“Adora!” Glimmer gasped.

“We’re here to bust you out!” Catra stage whispered as loud as she could over to the prisoner. But Adora’s eyes suddenly widened in faint recognition, and panic. She squirmed to sit up suddenly, despite the pain.

“No wait,” She whispered, all the sound she could manage, “Stop-- it’s---”

Suddenly the floor began glowing black and purple, and a familiar sensation began to overtake Catra, as well as Glimmer. Their feet froze as they walked, and an electric numbness spread up their feet, crawling up their bodies until in a second, they were frozen in place by some dark magic. Catra’s heart raced and her eyes searched frantically for the caster, and Glimmer’s cry of surprise was cut off when the magic reached her face. They stood like shocked statues for only a second in confusion. 

It was a trap. They both couldn’t move a muscle. Adora became more alert in her fear, the magic not having reached her, and she watched helplessly as the paralysis trapped the two most important people to her. But the more she moved, the more the darkness came back to her vision, and she struggled to stay awake.

The blackness of the floor had not reached her. It was in a perfect circle, a contained spell that did not reach the edges of the room. 

From the shadows behind Adora, Hordak stalked out. His robes had blood spatters on them, and he looked furious as always. He kept his hands behind his back as he paced around the spell’s effects, and all three women were helpless to do anything but watch. 

“Well well well.” He droned huskily. A large spark zapped and fizzled off of his suit of armor, then quickly disappeared again. “How predictable.” He stopped in front of Catra. Her face was frozen in a moment of surprise and fear, her pupils shrunk back in size. He chuckled once at the pitiful soldier in front of him. 

“I suppose that those old runes that Shadow Weaver drew out in her studies were worth keeping after all....” He explained slowly. “The magic of this world is strange to me... Yet a science to be mastered, nonetheless.”

Catra didn’t relax, even knowing that Shadow Weaver couldn’t possibly be alive. When she felt the magic grabbing her from the shadows she recognized it immediately, and just as immediately wondered if there could possibly be any way that the witch had survived. Catra snuck into her jail cell and slit her throat herself, but she knew that the magic had to come from somewhere, and she wondered if Shadow Weaver was tricking her again. But knowing that it was only Hordak using her old notes still didn’t calm her racing heart. 

Glimmer was not much better. She knew that she had to save her magic, but she still attempted to teleport out of the field. It failed and her eyes searched frantically around the room, between her two girlfriends who needed help and the dictator who was on the last straw that held them captive. Swift Wind was right: things went wrong. 

Hordak went to pull the sword out of the ground. A spark caused his armor to glitch and falter, but only for a moment before he regained himself. 

“And now that I have you, we can truly begin.” He continued. He went to Catra, himself protected from the magic, and Catra wanted to hurl herself at him and claw his eyes out. Tears wanted to form in her eyes, but that function of her body was paralyzed, and she suffered the ache and sting of them in their place. He smiled down at her wickedly.

“If you will not open the portal for me under threat of your own destruction,” He began, and lifted the sword to her throat close enough to shave her fine fur. “Then what about on the lives of your loved ones?” He asked Adora. Adora’s face turned desperate and distraught. Hordak chuckled. “I’ve wanted to put down this traitorous cat for a long time now... Remember, you will only have two chances to decide before it’s too late.”

Catra’s skin crawled under the touch of Hordak behind her. Glimmer wanted to scream but couldn’t move a muscle. Adora alone had the choice to move, but even she was helpless if she didn’t want Catra or Glimmer to get hurt. Catra wanted to scream at her not to do it--- she had Glimmer, she couldn’t open the portal, let her die the way that soldiers die--- but it caught in her throat along with her trapped breath. Hordak’s grip on her tightened, and the sword came closer until it pressed a thin line into her throat. 

“How much are they worth to you, She-Ra?” He yelled.

“Wait!” Adora responded, reaching out weakly. Hordak relaxed slightly, probably relieved at his progress as they all saw the defeat in Adora’s eyes. 

“Don’t hurt her, please,” Adora said softly. “I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt them.”

Hordak laughed and stalked over to Adora with the sword. Catra wanted to scream that she was being an idiot. She and Glimmer could do nothing more than look at each other with worry in their eyes, the only part they could move. Even their breath was stuck in their throats, and they desperately needed fresh air. But the spell held over them, immobilizing. 

Hordak put the sword in the center of his portal machine, and clipped clamps that lead to wires to its blade. Then he dragged Adora by the collar of her shirt and deposited her in the center. She struggled to her hands and knees, shaking from the pain of her own torture. Hordak went to a control panel in preparation.

“Remember,” Hordak threatened. He had a stun baton in one hand, pointed at Glimmer and Catra still immobilized nearby. “Anything but compliance, and they  _ will _ die.” He reminded her.

Adora looked up at her girlfriends full of sorrow and apologies there was no time for. She blinked once at them. Catra and Glimmer struggled against the restraints of magic more than they ever had before, desperation making their blood run cold. Then Adora touched the hilt of the golden sword and closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch.

“ _ For the honor... of Grayskull.” _ She whispered to her weapon. It responded to her immediately, and came to life with light. The machines responded to its power a second later, and a faint purple glow started to spark up from the edges of the portal machine. Hordak laughed, fully giving into the mad scientist he was and not holding back. A strong wind swirled around the room, picking up smaller objects and rising to a roar as the invention roared to life. 

  
  
  



	4. Catra

  
  


Catra slapped the alarm on her Personal Display Device. It was sleek and modern technology, but covered in claw marks from years of mornings that Catra didn’t want to get up. She felt as though she had trouble sleeping the night before, and rolled over to go back to sleep. But the PDD would not leave her alone, and a second alarm set by her good friend Scorpia was in place to make sure that she got out of bed. Catra grumbled and conceded defeat to the PDD, and got out of bed. She stretched and yawned, pushing her fingers and toes as far as they could reach before heading to the bathroom. 

Scorpia was always thinking of her like that. Taking every little thing into account, making sure that she got done what needed to be done. Catra contemplated the leadership skills of her fearsome friend as she washed up for the day. It had been a while since they had spoken in person, perhaps they should meet up, see how things were going, make sure that orders were being properly followed through. A lot of people looked up to her now. She had to remember that. 

When Catra wiped the fog off the mirror to see her own reflection. She shook out the long locks of her wild hair that fell to the full length of her back before combing it into the right direction with her claws, and got dressed. Looking back to the mirror, she fixed the dark wrapping that hung around her shoulders and, last of all, made sure to pin her horde badge onto her cape wrapping. She smiled, happy with the results, and left her personal quarters. 

Lord Catra, Dictator of the Horde, emerged from the private sanctum to start her day. 

  
  


***

  
  


Her long black cape flowed behind her like bat wings.

She strode the halls of the Fright Zone with speed and power, and her underlings all stepped out of the way to make room for her. Her first item on the agenda was a meeting with her top Commanders. 

She came to the conference room and all the commanders stood up from their seats at attention. Good, they were all here. That was smart of them. She took her seat at the head of the table, and the others took their cue to sit as well, but they were all still highly tense. Catra smirked. She liked having that power over a room. 

“Cobalt, tell me you have something for me.” She said. Commander Cobalt, a blue and spiked lizard folk, stood up and passed her a file over the glass table. 

“Lord Catra. Our service report shows all operations running smoothly, ma’am.”

She opened the file and lazily flipped through charts and graphs that she probably wouldn’t read. It showed that she was doing well, that’s all that mattered. 

Then she caught a sticky note that was stuck to one page, and as she flipped through she only saw it for less than a second, but she could swear it said  **_SHE-RA_ ** . It alarmed her, but as she leafed through the pages individually, she couldn’t find any sticky notes. She cleared her throat and straightened her posture. 

“Very well. And what of She-ra?” She asked, without looking up. There was an uncomfortable silence around the table. This caused her eyes to come up and look at her underlings with danger in her eye. “Well?”

“Lord Catra, ma’am.” Grizzlor, a hulking hairy beast, spoke up. “Are you referring to the mythical hero? She disappeared over a thousand years ago...”

She scrutinized the table of assembled war commanders for a second, then leaned back in her seat. 

“Yes, of course...” She agreed half heartedly. “I must have confused it with something else. You are all dismissed.”

Only when they all left, did Catra frantically search through the pages of notes and files again. This time, she found a whole page that simply said  **_PORTAL_ ** . 

Something wasn’t right. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She crumpled up the page and stuffed it in her pocket for later.

She left in a huff to go to her next appointment, checking in with force captain Scorpia out on the battle front. 

Something wasn’t right. When Catra passed by a window, she saw the reflection of someone walking or perhaps gliding by past her, but when she turned she was alone. Was she losing her mind? Maybe she should just ask Glimmer about it. Wait, who? That name.... Did it have something to do with She-Ra?

She met up with Scorpia and tried to bite her tongue, but if anybody knew what was going on it was Scorpia. That girl was well liked by everybody, and always had her ear to the ground, if anybody had heard of anything suspicious, it would be her. That’s what made her so successful as Catra’s second in command. They met up on the shop floor at the forge outside of the Fright Zone. 

“Lord Catra!” Scorpia saluted with a big cheesy grin. Seeing the giant softy of a woman, a constant ray of happy sunshine, actually relaxed Catra a bit. 

“Scorpia, thank you for meeting me on such short notice.” She folded her hands behind her back underneath her cape. 

“Wow, you’re really thanking me? You never thank anyone, you must be in real high spirits today!” Scorpia beamed. 

Catra blinked in confusion but tried to cover it up. Did she not show her thanks to people? It felt like something she should do. 

“Ehr, yes. Well. Why don’t you show me what you’ve been working on here.”

Scorpia gave her a quick rundown of how things were running on the shop floor, but Catra didn’t listen to any of it. At one point, she was certain she saw a trio of white butterflies come out of a bubbling cauldron of molten metal. They disappeared again but she couldn’t be sure if it was real or not. At the conclusion of the tour, Scorpia and Catra were up on a catwalk explaining some designs for a new robot that would be highly experimental. Catra wasn’t listening. Something felt off. 

“Scorpia, listen.” Catra cut her off. “Have you noticed anything strange lately? Anything... unusual?”

Scorpia scratched her head with her big claw as she pondered a moment. 

“No not really. I mean you do seem to be actin’ nicer than usual, but I’m hoping that doesn’t count as unusual. Should I be on the lookout for anything in particular, boss?”

Catra shook her head while running her hands down her face. 

“I don't know. Maybe I just slept weird and it's affecting me.” She sighed. “But I found this weird note today--” 

Catra reached into her pocket for the folded paper, but was entirely surprised when her fingers hit something different. She withdrew a handful of wood shavings.

“Huh?” She asked herself, testing the light material between her fingers. Some of it blew away on the hot breezes rising from the factory floor. They were small, curled up, and precisely cut to thin little slices. They were certainly not there this morning. 

“Uh, are you okay there, boss?”

Catra looked up to Scorpia again in confusion, and then tried to shake her head as though that might clear it. She took Scorpia’s claw in her hand and led her away while she talked. 

“Something is wrong, this isn’t right.”

“What isn’t right?”

“I need you to get Entrapta and bring her to me,”

“Who?”

“Entrapta!” Catra spun around. She was starting to remember. Remember details, but she couldn’t see where it all came together. “Princess Entrapta!”

“Okay, calm down, boss.” Scorpia said nervously. “I’m sure we can figure this all out--” Something clicked suddenly for Catra and she grabbed Scorpia’s shoulders. 

“You, you don’t call me that.” She thought out loud. It was coming to her, slowly, like trying to push a great big mass through a tiny doorway. “You call me...” she struggled on the tip of her tongue, “ _ Wild Cat _ ,” She explained frantically. 

The realization spread across her face instantly and her eyes went blank for a moment as it started coming back to her. Slowly, she started to realize the same thing Catra was. Something was wrong...

“I... I don’t know what you’re...” She murmured. Catra continued. 

“Scorpia remember. I need you to help me. Something is wrong. We have to find Entrapta so she can--”

“Entrapta,” Scorpia gasped. And that was when it all came together. “Wait, what are we doing? This isn’t right, none of this is how it should be.” She realized. Catra felt happy to have a friend back, even if she did cause an existential crisis. 

“Listen to me. I don’t think that any of this is real.” She said, leading Scorpia away towards the Fright Zone again. “If anybody knows what’s going on, it’s Goggles. It must have something to do with the portal.”

“The portal that Hordak was working on?” Scorpia asked. “Wait, what are you going to do?”

They came through a doorway that somehow, inexplicably, led back to the heart of the Fright Zone. They both paused at the sudden change. 

“oooOOOH WHAT is happening?!” Scorpia yelled. 

“Stay with me Scorps!” Catra asked. “You get Entrapta. I need to find whoever left the note.” She took off running down the hallway. “I’ll meet you in the lab!” She called over her shoulder. 

The layout was changing. It was small, subtle, but she knew that things were out of place. Sometimes she would catch a flash of pink static out the corner of her eye and a cable along the wall would turn into a pipe, but she continued onward, towards the sound of a woman’s laughter. 

_ Doggy, dearie, _ a voice from faraway echoed. Catra’s cape flew out behind her as she ran the halls of the increasingly unrecognizable Fright Zone. The further she got, the more she remembered, coming to her in bright flashes that contrasted the darkness of the Fright Zone. 

The jungle. The tiny post-battle desserts. The coup. The woods. Whittling. Bowseph. Bright Moon. Safety. Duke. Glimmer and Adora. 

This wasn’t her! This wasn’t her life, none of this was real! How did she get here? 

One place that her memories stopped at was in the Fright Zone. So why did everything keep changing up on her?

Finally, she turned a corner, and saw an elderly woman with long silver hair. She wore a raggy pink dress giant goggle-like glasses. She started to turn to leave, but Catra reached out. 

“Wait!” She called out, desperately following her. “Who are you, what’s going on?” 

“Lord Catra?” A voice called behind her. She whirled around to see Kyle of all people looking at her in confusion. 

“Kyle?” 

“Um, everything okay?”

Kyle. Sweet, dumb, weak Kyle. He was still just as Catra remembered him, in his cadet shirt and everything. Except that he was supposed to be at Safety, with the rest of the horde defectors from the Immigration. 

It didn’t matter. She had to stop what was happening. 

“Kyle listen to me.” She said, putting her hands on his shoulders. He instantly stiffened uncomfortably under her grip. “Something is going on, I don’t know what but it could be dangerous. I need you to get the squad and get far away from the Fright Zone. Head for Bright Moon. It isn’t safe here. Do you understand?”

“Oh uh, okay! Are we going to make an attack?” He asked nervously. Clearly he didn’t understand. Catra saw over his shoulder a pale pink glitch in the walls, with cracks spreading outward. She gasped at the sight, but it vanished. 

“It doesn’t matter, just stick with me!” She ordered, taking his arm and pulling him along the hallway, away from the glowing lights. “We’re getting out of here, right now, immediately!” 

Their running led them right into the mess hall. About two dozen officers were hanging out at the tables, on the benches, talking and laughing. 

“Catra-- Catra, wait!” Kyle pried himself free and backed away a few steps. She had her hand on the door opposite where they came in, ready to flee, but not without making up for all the pain that she caused. She needed to know he was safe, along with their old squad.

“Kyle, enough messing around!” She yelled. Behind his head, white butterflies flitted by. “The Fright Zone is falling apart, I need you to get the guys and get out.”

“Lord Catra, you aren’t making any sense--”

“I’m not your lord!” Catra lashed out. More glitches and fractures appeared in the air behind him, and none of the people here could see it. “Why can’t anyone else see that?”

The glitches became more violent, appearing larger and more erratically, as though there were cracks in the universe. Cata backed away fearfully. 

“Get Lonnie and Rogelio, you guys need to get somewhere safe.”

“Wait, who?” Kyle said in confusion. The officers in the canteen were starting to notice. They stopped their conversations to watch what was happening between the cadet and the Lord of the Fright Zone. “Who are you even talking about?”

“What do you mean who, our squad!” Catra said. But Kyle only looked more confused. If only she could break through to him like she did with Scorpia.

The lights flashed and made a violent hissing sound like glass breaking. Catra jumped out the doorway and shielded her face. But just as it came, so it went. It ended and when Catra looked back, everyone in the room was gone.

The soldiers, the officers, Kyle, they were all gone. Like they stopped existing. There was no pain, no cry for help, no sign of struggle. They were gone like they were never there. 

She needed to get out of here.

An old woman’s chuckle rang through the empty halls, echoing along the green metal walls. Catra got up and followed it. The source of that laughter, those butterflies: whoever she was, she had answers.

But when she opened a door, she found herself in Entrapta’s lab. It wasn’t how she remembered it though, it was parts of her lab in Dryl and parts of her lab in the Fright Zone. And it kept flickering in pink static, changing. 

“Catra!” Entrapta yelled at her usual volume. But right now, she couldn’t have been more relieved to hear her. She remembered Entrapta being in danger... it was just within her reach yet she couldn’t grasp the idea. Catra turned around and the door she had come through had glitched into a smooth metal wall. She ignored it and pressed on. 

“Entrapta, something is wrong.” She said. Scorpia was there too, hopefully she got the princess caught up. Entrapta lazily hung upside down while suspending herself from her pigtails with a wide grin. “You are probably going to love this but it's incredibly important and dangerous.” She emphasized. 

“Oh yes, you mean how reality is splitting itself apart as we move through parallel dimensions as the edges of the fabric of reality start to fray?” She said in entirely one breath.

“ _ WHAT? _ ”

Entrapta bounced around the cluttered room and laughed maniacally. 

“Wait, did you say parallel dimensions?” Scorpia asked. “As in like, alternate timelines?” 

“Possibly!” Entrapta beamed. She brought forward her main computer monitor. 

“It seems as though through an unstable portal event, the energies of multiple dimensions, both ours and those that are foreign to us, are now in a constant state of flux, causing spatial disruption and upsetting the delicate time-flow equilibrium!” She spoke incredibly fast. “The fabric that holds together our reality and tethers our dimension to both a specific point in time and space is becoming overburdened by the influx of power and beginning to fray at the ends!” 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Catra gasped as she took a tablet that showed a (in classic Entrapta style) cartoon representation of the world crumbling apart and exploding. 

“The portal is doing all that?” Scorpia asked. “It’s pulling us into different timelines?”

“Yes!” Entrapta explained. “Among many more, much harmful things. AND it is falling apart at a steady exponential rate! If we don’t shut down the portal, it could spread until it tears apart not only our own world but all of space and time itself!” Despite the urgency of her words, her eyes lit up at all the raw data she was collecting. Of course Entrapta thought the end of the world was more like a field day. 

“Okay fine, so we go to Hordak’s lab and we shut it off!” Catra concluded. “Then things will go back to normal, right?”

“Weeelllll,” Entrapta typed quickly on her multiple keypads, inputing data to and from multiple sources as she ran the numbers. “Whoever shuts off the portal may be trapped in a void in between dimensions, a sort of confined prison made up of all the space in between all dimensions. So that’s not great.” Entrapta rubbed her chin in thought, then crossed her arms over her chest at the serious news as multiple locks of hair continued on typing. “But yes, aside from that, it should return us to the space and time that we left off in!”

“Okay fine, we’re going to Hordak’s lab, then.” Catra said. She knew that someone had to do it, and was starting to think that she might be able to. 

“Super Pal trio back in action!” Scorpia celebrated, bringing the other two into a big hug.

  
  


***

  
  


“I don’t understand, it should be here.” Catra said, looking around the empty octagonal room. Hordak’s lab wasn’t just vacant, it was empty. No machines, no tools, nothing. “The portal should be here, how are we supposed to shut it down now?”

“Oh, a twist!” Scorpia said. 

Entrapta took some scans of the room but found no unusual energy readings. 

“The portal must be moving! Although how or why, I can’t figure out! I need more data!”

The entire room glitched like a hologram program, a ghastly pale pink that made them all jump.

“What was that you were saying about reality falling apart at an exponential rate?” Catra said nervously. A second later, she grabbed their hands and ran with the two others behind her. “We’re getting out of here, before reality swallows us whole!”

They broke out of the building and into the open. They were all on a rooftop, overlooking the Fright Zone. Catra raked her claws through her too-long hair. 

“If the portal isn’t here, then where is it?” She thought out loud in frustration. 

Suddenly the whole of the Fright Zone on the horizon seemed to light up and flash in its pink glitches. Lightning shaped threads spiked out of its center, spreading like cracks through the universe. It glitched and spasmed violently, making a harsh sound and then disappeared as quickly as it had shown up. Catra jumped and yelled, and found herself perched on Scorpia’s shoulders, on all fours over the broad shoulders, with all her fur fluffed out. They waited to see if anything else would pop up, but exhaled when it didn’t.

“What is that!” Scorpia asked. Entrapta was typing rapidly with both hands and multiple strands of hair as she analyzed the effects. 

“ooooOOOH, That was a big one!” She yelled out. It was impossible to make out her expression beneath her welding mask and goggles. “It’s the effect of the overbearance on the portal machine! Wait, that’s it!” 

Now she began using her dextrous ponytails to climb up on Scorpia’s shoulders, where Catra still crouched. This neither bothered nor slowed her, but certainly did bother Catra and slow Scorpia under their weights. Catra had to readjust her position so as not to topple over as Entrapta climbed up.

“Ah, hey!” Catra protested, but Entrapta continued and soon sat up on Catra’s shoulders, who was on Scorpia’s shoulders as she held her tablet aloft. The three of them were stacked up as Entrapta searched for a signal that could help them, holding the pad as high up as she could manage with her pigtails.

“Okay, I have an idea, but it will be incredibly dangerous!” Entrapta told them. “I can figure out how and where the portal is moving but in order to do so, I need to get closer to the singularity events!”

“What?” Scorpia asked from the bottom of the tower. 

“You want to go  _ towards _ the reality ending explosions?’ Catra asked from the middle. 

“It’s less of an explosion and more of an implosion of high energy singularity---but yes!” She explained. “We need to get the readings to trace the wavelength back to its source power and then hopefully pinpoint its location and how it's moving through a dimension that we can perceive!”

“Wait, hang on--” Catra tried to maneuver herself into a more comfortable position in between Scorpia and Entrapta, but then they all started swaying dangerously and Scorpia’s legs couldn’t keep up with their tilt. Pretty soon they were all toppling over and rubbing their sore bottoms. It would have been a “scrap bookable moment” according to Scorpia if the fate of the multi-universe or whatever wasn’t at stake. 

“Okay hold up, I saw those flashes of light. If you get caught in the crossfire of those lights, you stop existing, like  _ gone _ gone, and we don’t know how permanent that is, what with the whole universe unraveling! And you’re telling me we have to go  _ towards _ that?”

Entrapta sat up with an enormous grin on her face. 

“Yes!”

Catra sighed. She put her head in her hands for a moment. Then she readdressed them.

“Okay fine, let’s go save the world I guess.” She concluded.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My plan of "Post the beginning of unfinished thing so that it will give me a deadline to finish the thing" was working GREAT ... until I opened up animal crossing for the first time in a few weeks and I forgot to eat or move for eight hours lol.


	5. Glimmer

  
  
  


The roses were in bloom at Bright Moon gardens, filling the air with an aromatic perfume. In fact, all of the gardens were blooming in vibrant cultures of petals and fruits. The smells were all mingled and mixed by the light summer breeze. 

It would have been calming to anyone else. But Glimmer was on edge. 

She was waiting. 

Glimmer scanned around the bushes and trees in the garden with a keen eye, looking for her attacker. 

It came from behind her, a sudden flash of magical energy coming straight towards her. She heard it coming a fraction of a second before it reached her, and pivoted and blocked the attack perfectly. The light shards dissipated like smoke in the wind before her sorcerer shield, and a second later she dropped the shield to throw a magic blade of her own in the direction the attack had come from. 

The results were instant, a sound of impact as a man huffed an  _ OOF! _ And then the dust below being disturbed by an invisible source. A second later, the spell wore off, and the invisibility faded away like being pulled from under a blanket, to reveal an older man lying on his stomach in the dirt. He started picking himself up and Glimmer smiled with delight at her own skills. 

“I’m not sure if I’m getting worse or you’re getting better,” He chuckled as he dusted himself off. 

He was close to Glimmer in height, and almost every other aspect. Her hair and eyes she got from her mom, but otherwise she was the spitting image of her father. His beard was neatly trimmed short, unlike his long hair that trailed down his back in a braid that Glimmer herself had woven. This wasn’t the first time he had to clean the dust off his purple master Sorcerer robes, and it wouldn’t be the last, especially with how Glimmer was improving. 

“Invisibility is useless if you make all that sound!” Glimmer teased her father. He laughed at his own expense and gave her an approving pat on the back. 

It was still relatively recent that Angella had even allowed them to practice magic in her beautiful gardens. Usually their sessions were more... destructive. To their surroundings. But, she was improving, and quickly catching up to the great sorcerer with hopes to one day surpass him. 

“I might need to look into a sound proofing spell then.” Micah agreed. But then he thought about it harder, putting a hand to his beard in thought as he seriously pondered it. 

“Good, then I can put one in my room all the time.” Glimmer said. “Just blow stuff up without mom knowing."

She loved this. She wanted to commit it to memory, the feeling of laughing with her father in the beautiful gardens, learning sorcerer magic and duking it out. It wasn’t likely that she would ever need to use such powerful magics, the world was at peace. But dueling with her father was a special kind of bonding. The kind that wasn’t soft or affectionate in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, but trusting the other person completely with your life, and helping each other get stronger. She could think of one person in particular who would love to join them in this kind of practice some day.

Or wait... could she? What was their name... It was on the tip of her tongue...

“Your Majesty!” A guard called from the castle entrance out to the field, and Glimmer’s thoughts on the person vanished, forgotten. “There’s an intruder at large spotted prowling the castle! The Queen has requested your help with apprehending them!” Micah gasped, and they both ran back to the castle to join the guard. 

“Do we know their intentions?”

“No sir, Your Majesty. They keep avoiding our guards like an expert. But the intruder was first spotted in the princess’s room!”

“What?” Glimmer asked. “Are they after  _ me _ ?”

“I’ll stop them with my magic, that’ll show them.” Micah growled. 

“Shall I escort the Princess to safety?”

“The safest place for my baby girl is where I can protect her. She stays with me.”

Glimmer didn’t know what to feel. She felt as though she had never known danger personally before, and perhaps it should have frightened her. But it was also... thrilling? It didn’t seem to capture the true spirit of what she felt, and she wanted to know everything about what was going on and get to work on it herself right away. Knowing she was a target didn’t make her feel any hesitation at all, in fact it seemed to provoke her to use it to her advantage. Perhaps she could set a trap for the intruder-- but no, that was ridiculous. Her mother would never allow it. 

  
  


***

  
  


The throne room, midday. The day moon highlighted all the golden accents of the pastel interior. Glimmer and Micah met with Angella, and several guards, all getting caught up on the situation. 

Glimmer tuned out their words as they discussed the danger that had come to her home. She was more focused on other things. 

She should find Bow, right? They were always getting in and out of trouble together, ride or die. Well, as much trouble as they could get in while living like royalty in a beautiful pastoral palace where the worst thing that could happen was getting grounded by her mom. Where was he anyway? Usually they were practically attached at the hip. She remembered his warm and cheery presence by her side earlier, was it at breakfast? Perhaps some time before that? What was she doing before that...

A sudden explosion of magic interrupted her thoughts. Her father had unleashed a whirlwind of energy all of a sudden encompassing the whole room; apparently something decided upon in the conversation where everyone looked sternly for irregularities. Glimmer didn’t recognize the spell, but could read the glyphs in the air and figured out it must have been some sort of tracking and containment spell. The magic sigils swirled around him artfully, and with a flick of his wrist, they quickly honed in on a shadowed pillar, trailing up to where it connected to the ceiling in the rafters. Everyone followed their quick movement to a spot and Glimmer could swear she saw a shadow flinch away. The sigils readjusted their trajectory towards the moving shadow, and overcame it in a heartbeat. 

A horrid scream wrenched out of the shadow, and now there was no denying that there was a spy lurking there, perfectly hidden until the spell encompassed them. 

“Ha! There you are,” Micah declared. With his casting hand, he curled his fingers, binding the spell to the person who stalked them, and the sigils moved down in front of the family all of a sudden, carrying their cargo with them. 

Glimmer stood beside her mother and father, who were up the steps near the thrones. The guards in the room brought forth their spears to the person who was now before them. 

She screamed and writhed as though in pain, frantically trying to escape her bounds. Glimmer cocked her head curiously-- none of her father’s spells hurt anybody, and this one had no sign of danger or harm in the glyphs. 

She was a magicat, a type of species that few people had ever met or seen. Usually the magicats were wary people, and tended to stay hidden ever since the fall of their kingdom. 

Wait, did their kingdom fall? To what? There was no war, no invaders...

She was skinny but strong, she could tell that much. The girl must have been close to her in age, which surprised Glimmer. She wore dark robes that portrayed an air of military background. This person was getting stranger and stranger the more Glimmer looked at her. 

But it was hard to take in the sight in the two seconds that it took to bring her forth, for she was screaming as though in pain, struggling against the invisible bounds of magic that held her arms to her body as though she were tied up, and the sigils floated calmly in a circle around her. Nevertheless, though she was not touched, she seemed wild and feral at her constraints; totally different from the lithe and agile shadow that she was before they wrapped around her. Glimmer’s heart ached to see her like this, so obviously in some sort of pain and almost terrified of the magic around her. Something was wrong. 

She had to stop them. 

“Dad, stop!” Glimmer cried out. She had only been in containment before them for three seconds now, but it was obvious that something was wrong. Micah looked to his daughter with worry, but hesitated. 

“Please, just don’t use magic!” Glimmer pleaded. “Drop the spell!”

“Don’t let her loose!” Angella ordered her guards. They inched forward with six spears pointed at the throat of the wailing cat before them before Micah nodded and dropped the spell.

The magicat fell to the ground shaking, stopping her struggle as soon as she was free, gasping for air. A thin sheen of sweat covered her body and her tail stood floofed out in alarm. On her hands and knees, she panted hard for breath, her hair covering her face. Glimmer didn’t know anything about this girl, but she felt an awful twist in her intestines, feeling guilty for what had happened and wanting to protect her. She needed to make sure she was okay, but she bit her tongue. Why would a magicat spy react so violently in fear of magic?

The woman looked up. Glimmer’s first thought on seeing her eyes -- one blue and one yellow-- was that she looked  _ stunning _ . That was the word she wanted, to describe her face. She was stunning. Something about her was beautiful and sharp, strong and cunning. Glimmer felt like with one look, she had been paralyzed, and now she was the one struggling to find air. 

Her mismatched eyes quickly scanned the room. The king and queen before her, Glimmer off to the side. Six guards with spears at her throat. But her gaze lingered on Glimmer a second, and she looked like she was relieved to see her. It felt familiar somehow, like Glimmer had met her before somewhere. 

“Tell us who you are, and why you’re here.” Angella yelled imposingly, pulling the magicat’s attention away from Glimmer for a moment and up to the Queen who was threatening her. 

She hesitated a moment, still catching her breath. Obviously she had to be careful, any wrong move or answer could end with her dead. She gulped nervously. 

Then she looked over to Glimmer again, her brows furrowed in thought for only a second. Then a mischievous look (which Glimmer immediately loved) came to her eyes and she smirked. 

“Honestly,” She said. “The things I do for my wife!”

“Catra, we’re not married.” Glimmer's immediate and automatic reply came. It made Catra grin (yes, Catra, that was her name) and her ears picked upwards. 

It took Glimmer a full seven seconds to realize that the room was stunned silent, staring at her. She looked up at her parents, both of whom were looking at her waiting for an explanation. She was confused. Had she said something wrong?

Then she had to realize what she said, and the words caught up to her. She gasped and looked back at the magicat. What did she just say? What did it mean? She hadn’t realized what she said, why did she say that and why did it feel so automatic and normal?

“Glimmer, do you know this person?” Her mother asked. 

“I ... I don’t...” Glimmer said softly, racking her brain for the answer. “I don’t remember.”

“Alright then,” Micah said. He put his index and middle finger upwards, then moved them in a small circle. A truth spell appeared before him, ready to be cast. “We need some answers,”

Catra gasped in fear, and brought her arms up to protect herself, cowering in fear again at the spell. Glimmer propelled herself in the path of the spell just as Micah was about to throw it onto the intruder.

“No!” She cried at the last second. Micah hesitated, a look of surprise and confusion on his face, at why his daughter was now standing between the spy and himself, as though she were protecting her. “Don’t use magic on her!” 

“Glimmer, what is the meaning of this?” Angella asked, coming up to her daughter. “What are you doing? We need answers and you know the truth spells are completely harmless.”

“I can’t explain it. I don’t know why.” Glimmer said bravely. “But no magic on her. I promised.” She spoke the promise into existence as though she herself were discovering it as it was spoken.

More confusion and shock from the room. 

“Please, just,” Glimmer grit her teeth, struggling once again to find the words for how she was feeling or what she was thinking. “She isn’t dangerous. And even if she is, I don’t think she means any harm. Just let me talk to her.”

“Absolutely not.” Angella decided right away. 

“Mom!”

“Angie, please.” Micah pleaded quietly. “Look, you can talk to her. But we’re staying right here to watch everything. I’m not letting you or her out of my sight yet.”

Glimmer nodded in agreement with the compromise. Angella hesitated, looking down at the magicat again, who remained silent on her knees. Something was going on here. It wasn’t just the reply that Glimmer had said full of familiarity, it was Catra too. She looked at the girl before her, too young to be involved in dangerous things like this, and her first thought on seeing her was that she needed to be properly fed. She was skinny sure, but some familiar maternal instincts forced her to pity the young woman. She looked like she could use some help. She looked like she could use a hug, even though she would just flinch away from any physical contact. 

Why did she know that?

Oh right, because she had learned from experience with Adora--

Wait, who was Adora?

She felt their names close to her mind, but still out of reach. She could feel them nearby, but could tell that they were not here and it caused an empty feeling in her, she missed them, wanted them closer. She was missing someone. 

Something strange was going on indeed. 

She finally gave in and agreed to the compromise. Glimmer smiled thankfully at her.

They all relaxed slightly, and Glimmer turned around to face the prisoner. She kneeled at the ground, mismatched eyes wide as they looked up at her, but there was the slightest hint of a smile at the corners of her lips. Glimmer was distracted a moment by her lips, she wasn’t sure why. 

She cleared her throat. 

“Um, okay.” She began. “Just, promise to tell the truth, and we won’t use any more magic on you. Okay?”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Catra said with a frown. But she also winked at the princess, as though it was their own little inside joke. Glimmer again found herself distracted.  _ Stunning _ .

“So, who are you? Why are you here?”

Catra took a deep breath.

“I came here to find you and Adora so that the three of us could stop reality from falling apart due to the portal that Hordak tried to open which is causing time and space to fall apart and will destroy the universe but none of this is real because it was in a different dimension or timeline or whatever, ” She explained all in one quick breath, to the perplexity of the royal family. 

“That, that doesn’t make any sense.” Micah said, shaking his head. 

“She must be lying.” Angella agreed. “Without the truth spell--”

“It’s all true! None of this is real,” Catra snapped back. “I need to find Glimmer and Adora or the whole world will disappear!” 

“How do you know our daughter?” Micah asked. “I’ve never seen you before.”

Catra made an uncomfortable face like something made her nervous and squeamish, and she looked away. 

“Oh jeez okay how do I put this; Well, normally you are more... dead?” 

Glimmer’s heart palpitated irregularly in her chest. It was heartbreaking but it sounded... familiar. The sound of those words seemed to fill a familiar emptiness within her, one that was heavy on her shoulders from years of grief that she felt so used to carrying all the time. Feeling the grief there, returning to her chest like a heavy weight, it felt more like truth. 

“Look I know that this world seems perfect, everyone keeps saying it is.” Catra continued. “But it isn’t real. And soon it won’t be  _ anything  _ unless Glimmer and Adora help me shut down the portal!”

“I’ve heard enough, take her away.” Angella decreed with a wave of her hand. There was a hesitation from the guards. 

“The spare room.” Micah clarified. 

Catra stiffened as the guards roughly brought her to her feet and dragged her away. She struggled harder the further away she got from Glimmer.

“Glimmer please, we need to find Adora and stop the portal!” She called out as she was dragged away. “You have to remember the two of us!”

“Glimmer listen to me.” Micah said, grounding her with a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t want you going anywhere near that girl until we know more, got it?”

Tears filled Glimmer’s eyes as she looked up at her father. She had only ever seen him in minimalist portraits and murals before. He looked so much like her, and she missed him. 

“Your father is right.” Angella agreed. “She must be up to something and I don’t want you getting involved. Do you understand, Glimmer?”

“Yeah. Yes.” Glimmer agreed halfheartedly, distracted.

She told them what they wanted to hear, but she was already involved. And if she couldn’t see her until they knew more, then the only solution was to learn more by seeing her. Clearly, the only way to move forward was to sneak into the spare room and see her again. 

  
  


***

  
  


Catra looked out the window of her spare room. She could see flashes of pink light on the horizon, a ways off yet, but coming. Catra measured the distance between the window and the sheer cliff that was outside it, trying to judge if she could make the jump. 

A jingling of magic rang a half second before Glimmer corporealized in the center of the room. Catra had never been more relieved to hear the familiar sound as she turned around to see her girlfriend. 

“I knew you’d come.” She smiled. But Glimmer still held back, hesitating. 

“You were telling the truth there, weren’t you.” Glimmer asked. “Why would you be so afraid of magic?” 

A pained expression came over Catra’s face for a moment and she rubbed her neck. 

“Because of Shadow Weaver.” She said. 

Shadow Weaver. Glimmer recalled meeting her once before, when she and Bow were kidnapped from Princess prom. 

Images flashed in her mind, all too vague to make out, but a familiar sensation: fear. Hatred, even stronger. How dare that parasite use magic to hurt people, use it to harm the two people she loved? 

Catra recognized the look in her eyes. She was starting to remember, but she needed a push, something personal, just like she had done with Scorpia. 

“Shadow Weaver, from the horde.” She said, trying to jog her girlfriend’s memories. “The horde run by Hordak in the Fright Zone. They’re trying to conquer Etheria and we were fighting against them. You, me, and Adora. You built the princess alliance! It doesn’t exist anymore because reality is collapsing in on itself, and soon it’s going to happen here too.” 

Catra was reminded of a time when Glimmer had gotten a terrible blow to the head in battle, and suffered temporary amnesia. She had forgotten all about Catra and Adora then too. Catra had tried to jog her memory with creative skits to cover five years of adventures. She didn’t have the same luxury of time now, however. She took Glimmer’s hand in both of hers. 

“None of this is right.” Glimmer said. “People keep saying that it is, but something is off. Why can’t I remember what I did yesterday? Why do I know Adora and Bow, but they aren’t here? And... and my dad...”

Catra’s heart sank suddenly. She knew the push that Glimmer needed. 

“When you and Adora started dating me, the two of you took me to see his grave. You took Adora there when you first started dating, then you took me there. Do you remember Glimmer?” Catra asked. “Do you remember what you told me?”

She was breaking Glimmer’s heart, something she swore she would never do. She could see the pain written clearly across her face, like she had to go through the trauma of losing him all brand new all over again. Only this time, it was Catra who had to tear away the thing she loved, not the horde. 

“You told me that you lost him to the horde when you were much younger.” Catra said. She squeezed Glimmer’s hand and rubbed her thumb over her fingers. Tears came to her eyes. Why did she have to take away everything Glimmer wanted? “You told me that when it happened, you saw your mother mourning. That you missed him so much you promised you would never fall in love. Because you and your mom were immortal, and you couldn’t lose another person you loved.”

Glimmer’s knees shook. Her chest felt tightly constrained and squeezed by a terrible sadness settling over her. She couldn’t look up at Catra. 

“I--I thought that...” Glimmer started to put together. “I didn’t want to outlive anyone I loved like my mom had...” When she did look up to Catra, her eyes were wet with tears. It ripped Catra in half. “My dad, he’s not... He isn’t here, is he...”

Catra started purring as she pulled Glimmer in for a hug. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around the other. The poor girl had to lose her father not once, but twice. Catra hated that she had to break her heart all over again. Her soft rumbles were what tipped Glimmer over the edge of recollection at last. 

_ Rumbles _ . The term that Adora had used for Catra’s purring. It was something that had always soothed Adora when they were in the horde together. They didn’t know what it was called, they just knew that Catra would choose to breath a certain way and her chest would vibrate with low soft sounds when she was feeling content. 

Adora. Catra. Rumbles. Doctor Bitterflakes the snake. Rumbles to soothe baby Olan. Catra’s panic attack at the lightning storm. Little wooden figurines and sculptures in every room. Catra getting high on catnip. The ghost of Bright Moon. It all came flooding back to her, unlocked by Catra’s soft rumbling against her body. She squeezed her way further into the hug, snuggling into the familiar softness. 

“Catra...!” She gasped as her memories came within reach all at once. She pulled away but stayed within arms reach while they looked at each other. “Catra, something is wrong. None of this is real.”

“It’s Hordak’s portal.” Catra explained again. Hordak, she knew hordak. It was all there for her to see now. She could remember going to the Fright Zone to rescue Adora, finding her beaten and being frozen by magic to forced her to open the portal.

“Adora!” She said. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know! I honestly thought she would be here with you.” Catra explained. “She wasn’t anywhere in the Fright Zone. It’s like the portal is trying to make us everything we want so we don’t turn it off, so I thought she would be here with you...”

Over Catra’s shoulder, Glimmer saw out the window as cracks appeared in reality, getting longer and wider as they flickered in and out of existence. A pale pink glow seeped out of the cracks, covering everything with blinding light. Her eyes widened. Catra caught the look and turned to see the cracks in reality spreading. 

“You see it too now, don’t you.”

“The portal is doing this?”

Catra nodded. 

“Entrapta and Scorpia risked their lives to find out how to stop it. We need to shut it down before reality ceases to exist.”

“Okay, then let’s find Adora later and shut it down now before it's too late!” Glimmer took Catra’s hand. 

“That’s the thing!” Catra said, frustrated. “We found out how to stop it. The portal is moving. Entrapta said that its movements are centered around some kind of anchor, its power source: The sword. The portal is closing in on that. That’s why I came here, I thought Adora and the sword would both be here!” 

“But if she wasn’t in the Fright Zone and she isn’t here, where else would she be?”

“I don’t know, this was my only lead!”

She had sincerely thought that everyone would be in their little “ideal world” land of the lotus eaters paradise. But Adora wasn’t in the Fright Zone, her childhood home, or even in Bright Moon with her girlfriend. Of course, it would have hurt Catra to discover that Adora’s perfect world didn’t originally include room for a third, but clearly that wasn’t the case. 

Catra fixed her gaze once more on the window, keeping an eye out for glitches in reality. Then a movement caught her eye, someone moving behind her. She whirled around just in time to see a hunched figure turning the corner out of the room, and gave chase with Glimmer’s hand in her own. 

“Wait!” She called out. She was shocked to find that the woman was finally within view, stopped in her tracks out in the hall. She turned to face them, a cheery smile and grandmotherly look in her eyes. Glimmer gasped. 

“Razz?” Catra asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m supposed to meet up with Mara, dearie!” She smiled happily. 

Catra wanted to tell her to get somewhere safe, to run away from the pink lights. She was used to Razz rambling about Mara as though they had just had tea yesterday, but this seemed different. It seemed like Razz might know something about what was going on, in her own Razz way. 

“Do you even know what’s going on right now?” Glimmer asked, apparently picking up on the same train of thought. Plus, it would have been hard for a ditzy old woman like Razz to sneak this far into the castle given their current level of security. 

“Ah, your Majesty!” She greeted. Typically Kings and Queens were Majesty, while a princess would be Highness. “You should find Adora soon. Wouldn’t want her to be late for your big day!”

“Adora--where is she?” Catra continued. “And where is the sword?”

“You must go back to the beginning!” Razz said, just as happy as ever. The hum of void magic from cracks in the universe seemed to grow louder. 

“But I was already in the Fright Zone, and Adora wasn’t there!” Catra became annoyed at the cryptic answer when they were on a deadline. “That’s where we both came from in the beginning!”

“No, doggy, that was not the beginning.” Razz said with a hint of disappointment. “You need to go back to the  _ very _ beginning." 

“Hey, don’t call her---!”

“Wait, you always get Adora and Mara mixed up.” Catra cut off Glimmer’s defensive rant. “But you said you’re going to find Mara and we have to find Adora. What does it all mean?” The windows started glowing a ghastly white with the reality crumbling. Cracks formed in the foundation around them. 

“You don’t need to understand.” Razz said softly, either unaware of or ignoring the danger around them. “You just need to remember.”

“Glimmer?” A familiar British voice spoke behind them. They both turned around and saw the King and Queen of Bright Moon. Razz had disappeared as soon as they looked away. 

“Step away from my daughter,” Micah growled, already drawing a charm in the air and preparing to hurl it at Catra. Her tail stood straight up as she inched closer to Glimmer.

“Wow, haha, meeting your parents.” She joked nervously, as though they had only reacted poorly to meeting Glimmer’s girlfriend for the first time rather than the actual severity of the situation. “The things I do for my wife...”

“Dad, mom, stop!” Glimmer stood protectively in front of Catra. “Can’t you see what’s happening? We need to stop it before none of this exists! Please, try to remember!”

“Something is going on.” Angella said in a low voice. “I don’t know what but... something.”

“Yes!” Glimmer said. “None of this is real and we need to stop it before we all stop existing! Then we can go back to normal.” She said the last remark looking at her father sadly. She tried to memorize his face and features. His usual mural in Bright Moon was so minimalist in style, devoid of expression. She wanted to remember. 

But then the cracks in the walls skipped forward in time, glitching to encompass the hall in a sudden harsh light. Their eyes widened for the half a second that it lasted, before Catra and Glimmer were gone, and Micah and Angella stood shocked. 

The young heroes found themselves in the whispering woods, the sky suddenly dark with night. Where, they had no idea. 

“Go back to the beginning.” Catra repeated Razz’s words, thinking out loud, trying to decipher their meaning. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Glimmer stood up. “But we have to find the sword. Reality.. It's falling apart faster, isn’t it?”

“The sword... that’s it!” Catra stood up aside Glimmer. “That’s the power source, so she must have meant the beginning of that instead of Adora!” The realization lit up Glimmer’s eyes as she listened. “It must be in the woods before she found it!” But Glimmer still looked doubtful. 

“But didn’t she also tell us we needed to find Adora?” Glimmer asked. 

“She must have meant Mara, she always gets them mixed up. She’s been trying to find Mara for years.”

“Okay, so we find the sword in the woods. Then what?”

“I don’t know. Shut it down somehow.”

Catra walked off into the woods, hoping to find anything that would help her scattered thoughts. Everything in her gut told her that Razz had some hidden meaning underneath her hidden meaning in the answers she gave. Everything in her told her to search out Adora. She needed her two girls beside her. But she already lost so much, she couldn’t lose any more time while the portal spun out of control. Scorpia and Entrapta were gone as though they had never existed, and she wouldn’t let that happen to Glimmer or Adora. She needed to shut it down.

When she pushed aside another leaf as big as her body to push through the undergrowth, she halted in her tracks. Glimmer froze next to her. 

Before them was a clearing, a familiar tangle of vines and roots coming to a centerpoint around the blade of a sword. But glitching in and out of visibility, just like the person who held its handle. The image jumped in and out of reality so fast they could hardly make out the details of the dark haired woman hunched over in pain, both hands on the sword she took with her in and out of reality. She wore blue robes, stained with blood. For some reason, Catra found that she instantly knew her name. 

“Mara?” 

But then the image flickered away for a final time, leaving the clearing empty. She held her breath and waited for the woman and the sword to reappear, but they did not. 

“Wait, come back!” She reached out for the clearing, stumbling into the roots that were previously holding the sword. 

“The sword, its gone!” Glimmer spoke their fear into existence. And worse, the cracks in reality began to reappear. Their fear grew just as quickly as the glowing lights around them, the woods becoming weightless as debris was lifted by the reality being torn apart. Catra raked her claws down through her hair, scraping painfully on her scalp as her mind raced. 

“Holy shit,” Glimmer said suddenly, realizing something. “I’m such an idiot!”

“What?” 

“Adora wasn’t in the Fright Zone!” 

“Yes, we’ve already established that!”

“Razz said to go to the very beginning.” Glimmer continued. “But Adora wasn’t born in the Fright Zone!”

Catra breathed in to say something, but all the wind left her as she realized. Her eyebrows flew upwards when it hit her. The vortex of light closed in around them. 

They both looked upwards to the night sky. It was full of stars. 

The ground under them erupted from an ice cold explosion of light, and they were sent airborne as the woods stopped existing as a whole and tumbled through an abyss in pieces. Glimmer and Catra yelled in alarm as pieces of earth the size of carriages blew past them, swirling weightlessly in the void. Trees uprooted, rocks tumbled, vines snapped as everything was pulled apart until there was more void light than there was woods. Their bodies were lifted weightlessly off the ground, and they started to drift apart. 

Glimmer reached out for Catra’s hand as the edges of the field spun, as though they were trapped on the inside of the vortex of a storm. Catra reached out for her, claws just barely grazing her fingertips. She grunted and yelled with the effort to reach to her princess when she couldn’t control the void space they were in. Glimmer growled and suddenly drew a magic rune in the air, which solidified into a solid unmoving platform that she could stand on, in the shape of a flat circle. She planted herself on it and again reached out for Catra. 

But again, Catra couldn’t reach her. She failed to reach out in response as her body was floating slowly away, too shocked that her hands were becoming transparent before her eyes as she disappeared. She looked up to Glimmer full of terror in her unmatched eyes. Glimmer gasped as it spread up her body from her hands and feet, going transparent and then turning black like it was burned. She was starting to not exist anymore. 

“Nonono, NO!” Glimmer yelled, reaching out again. She had to yell over the crashing sound of the void wind that glowed around them, closing in. The pieces of the woods fell into smaller and smaller pieces. “Reach out to me!” She cried desperately. 

Catra did reach out, but she couldn’t reach glimmer, their hands were still two feet away. Catra noticed that her other hand had completely vanished and tears formed in her eyes when she looked back up at Glimmer

“ _ You need to go on without me! _ ” Catra screamed. The tears lifted off her face weightlessly rather than fall from her eyes. “ _ If you stay it’ll get you too _ !” She had to scream over the roar of wind tearing around them.

“ _ I don’t care! _ ” Glimmer growled, not giving up on reaching out for her. “ _ I’m not leaving you behind! _ ”

She summoned all the magic she could, but Catra withdrew. 

“ _ Glimmer please! You need to go! Find Adora and tell her about the sword, we’re the only two people that know how to stop this! _ ” She cried. “ _ Don’t be stupid, leave me and go! _ ”

“ _ I’m not leaving you, Catra! _ ” Glimmer insisted. 

“ _ I’ll be okay-- don’t worry about me! _ ”

She drew another solid circle to stand on and came closer to Catra, the wind around them becoming stronger. It whipped her hair around and it was difficult to keep herself grounded without falling off and being blown away. The debris around hem moved faster and faster, threatening to knock them away from each other. Entire mountains from the whispering woods bent and crumpled under the reality void that sucked it up. There was no time, no space, no reality in this place of light and wind, and all the materials of the world warped in its might.

She looked up, the stars were blinking in and out of existence. They had to find Adora. Both of them. She couldn’t do this without Catra and Adora. She refused to abandon Catra. 

“ _ I’m not leaving you behind! _ ” She called out to Catra again, tears stinging her eyes. “ _ I’m never going to abandon you, Catra! Because I love you, and I can’t do this without you! _ ” She screamed over the roar of the wind. She drew another circle and came closer. Catra had been abandoned before, and it wounded her in ways that would never heal. Glimmer would not add to those wounds. She refused to let Catra be abandoned even one more time, even if the whole world hung in the balance. 

Their eyes met again as she drew closer to the fading figure of Catra. She looked terrified, scared for her life. Glimmer had never in her life seen her that scared. She softened her own look, shocked at how hurt Catra already was. She reached out with both her arms for the other woman, wrapping around her thin frame. She braced tight, unrelenting in squeezing her closer to her body and afraid to lose her. 

Even as she did reach Catra, there was no guarantee on how they would get to Adora. She desperately wished for more magic, for wings like her mother, for her two favorite women to be here with her to help her figure it all out. Her heart swelled as her mind raced trying to think of ways to get them both out of this endless devastating void. She felt her magic growing dimmer here in the alternate reality, being cut off from the moonstone with every magic she tried to summon. She focused on the power of the moonstone that ran through her veins, felt it course through her body with her rapid heart beat. She growled in concentration as she held Catra close to her chest, forced every ounce of magic out of her body in one great push, summoning every little speck of power she had. 

And, with it, two enormous shapes burst from her back, sparkling and made of light. And she flew them away from the vortex.

She hardly had any idea of what she was doing or how to do it, but she knew that she and Catra needed to go away from the void and towards the stars. She had to pull with all her strength as though Catra were rooted in place by the same magic that tried to make her stop existing, prying her free from the spell. The effects of the portal were weighing heavily on the magicat, but Glimmer freed her from where she was trapped and soared upwards immediately. 

Her wings were robust in shape, not defined in little feathers like her mother’s, but they did as she bade in her own mind as she soared upwards. They seemed to read her mind and move of their own accord, not fully attached to her back. Already she could feel the drain in her magical energy from forcing them out, and she doubted how long she would be able to maintain them. 

She climbed upwards, higher and higher towards the sky full of stars. And, hopefully, towards the third part of their trinity, and towards the only corner of universe left, towards the one person who could save the world. Her vision turned dark and she wasn’t sure if it was the exhaustion from expending every part of her own magic within her or if the universe was shrinking smaller again. 

The world beneath her got smaller as she guided them away. Darkness before her. Then, a terrible light before she faded away. 

  
  



	6. Adora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for pain

  
  


Glimmer blinked groggily. Her heart raced though she had no idea why, as the scene before her was totally scenic. She could feel the cool stone pathway beneath her, and warm sunlight above her, shaded by the leaves of an old tree. She felt a slight breeze over her face that brought the smell of flowers on it, and she could hear the gentle babbling of a brook, the chirping of birds and insects. It reminded her of the gardens at Bright Moon.

Her vision started to clear away from the fogginess and she became aware of a person hunched over her with concern. They were saying something indistinct she couldn’t make out as her head cleared. But she could hazily make out a pale face with strong features, and long blonde hair, and a red jacket.

“Adora?” She said sleepily. She expected to be in great pain, but found that she felt fine, just tired. 

“Haha!” The figure above her laughed good naturedly in a voice that was  _ not _ Adora’s. She blinked again to force the blurred image to focus. “Close! But no,” He said. 

She was looking up at a man about her age. For someone she did not recognize he looked shockingly like Adora: the same texture to his straw hair the same big blue/gray eyes, the same dorky grin. He wore a white shirt with a red vest over it. His shoulders were broad, and Glimmer could tell he was one of the strongest men she’d ever seen, muscles bulging in his fine clothes. Her eyes widened in shock at the stranger, and she put her hands under her to sit up slightly as she yelped. 

Where was she? Who was this? The last thing she remembered was--

“Catra!” She looked around the peaceful garden which was  _ not _ Bright Moon but some other castle, hosting exotic flora that she had never seen before. But her eyes lingered on Catra’s form lying on the ground not too far from her. 

She knew she couldn’t teleport, so she scurried over as fast as she could. She had never run out of magic like this before. Even when she was out of magic, she could run on fumes, feel the connection to the Moonstone. But this was a total certainty that she didn’t have so much as a single speck of magic left. 

She gently cradled Catra in her arms, sickened by what she saw. A black void like material covered her girlfriend on the parts of her that had stopped existing back in the void. It started at one hand, crawling up like an infection to cover half of her face, and was outlined by the same glowing pink and purple light that ate reality. Half her torso and face was encased in the void material, and when Glimmer touched it it felt like static at her fingertips, the absence of magic, the absence of existing in time and space at all. 

But she had saved Catra from being erased, and she wouldn’t let her go now. 

“Catra, Catra please wake up.” She whispered urgently. Catra stirred, and blinked a few times. Glimmer’s heart ripped in half when she saw that the void had spread to cover the shade of her blue eye in the same wicked blackness. She looked up at Glimmer in confusion for a moment before speaking. 

“Why... Glimmer, why did you save me? It could have gotten you too. It could have destroyed the whole universe.” She sounded disappointed, and her voice was warped and garbled by the portal. Glimmer smiled as tears fell down her cheeks. 

“I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you, Catra. I love you.” She captured her lips in a kiss, one that Catra returned even if she didn’t understand her own worth. Even though she thought Glimmer should have left her behind. She was still grateful to be here, existing in the arms of the princess. Wherever they were. 

“Aha, sorry,” The stranger said nervously, pushing a hand through his short golden hair. “Am I? Interrupting?”

“What th-- Adora?” Catra asked, turning to him as she sat up. The man smiled. 

“Oh, so you both know my sis!” He beamed. Glimmer and Catra were confused, more than confused. They were utterly baffled at their current circumstances. 

“Come on, you two should come with me inside.” The man continued, gesturing to the giant castle over his shoulder. It was white and gold, taller and larger than Bright Moon or any kingdom they had ever seen. It gleamed in the midday light magnificently, its curves and angles giving it a sense of pride and grandeur, nobility and power. 

“My name is Adam!” He said as he helped them both to their feet. Their mouths were hanging open like flytraps, their eyes the size of saucers at the place they had wound up. “Welcome to Castle Grayskull, of Eternia!”

  
  
  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  
  
  


The inside of the castle made Bright Moon feel like a tool shed. The high ceilings were so polished that they could see their reflection in every surface crystal clear. The windows were abundant to let in lots of light, and weren’t just transparent but made of a fine crystal that cast the most beautiful assortment of colors. 

The castle was pristine white, with gold and red for the trim and accents. Along the halls were displays of guard armor, of an ancient variety. It was kept in perfect condition, but was still clearly from a long bygone era of the past. The carpet beneath them was bright scarlet, looking like it could have been brand new, with gold lining around the border. 

This place was grand beyond grand. It was regal and heroic, full of a sense of chivalry through the ages and brand new light of a new day. It was majestic and proud. 

Glimmer caught Catra taking in her reflection on the many polished surfaces frightfully. She leaned in to look at her own eyes as her ears pulled back timidly.

She grabbed Catra’s static hand with her own, ignoring the buzzing numbness of the void that made her skin crawl. 

“It’s okay.” She said soft enough for only to hear, Adam was wandering down the hall in the way they were supposed to follow him. “If we shut off the portal we can fix everything.” 

Catra took a deep breath, remembering what Entrapta had said. Whoever shut it off would be trapped in that void forever... she would cross that bridge when she got to it, trying to make peace with her fate. 

“What’s most important right now is that we find Adora.” Catra said, looking away. 

They squeezed each other’s hands in a moment of quiet understanding, a reassurance that they had each other. 

“Hey, are you alright, friend?” Adam asked behind them. 

“I told you, it’s Catra.” Catra said evenly. 

“Of course!” Adam agreed. “But we can still be friends, right?” His smile was hopeful. God he looked so much like Adora with that stupid grin. All teeth, eyes big as the moon. 

“Uh, tell me again how you know Adora?” Glimmer interjected. They all walked down the hall once again, towards double doors that were fifty feet tall. They were covered in intricate detailing in the carving, and Catra had to admire it. She had never seen finer woodworking in her life. 

“She’s my sister!” Adam said happily. 

Catra and Glimmer knew the meaning of the word, but thought it impossible. Adora was an orphan, just like every Horde kid. 

“She… never mentioned you.” Glimmer said awkwardly, hoping not to offend him by the obvious fact that they were out of their depths here. Adam just laughed. 

“Ah well, you know ‘Dora. I think she’s embarrassed by me.” He smiled widely. “Plus she’s still bitter by the fact that I was born first, so obviously she doesn’t talk about her birthday much, y’know? Being the ~little sister~ and all.” He added in an endearing teasing tone. 

“So you’re older?” Catra asked. They were now up to the enormous doors and Adam paused. 

“By sixteen minutes!” He said proudly. Glimmer and Catra’s eyebrows both went up in surprise. 

“Twins...” Glimmer said. Adam made finger guns at her and winked. 

“That’s right!”

Then he was pushing open the door, and it easily swung open under his strength. Glimmer wished Bow were here, he would swoon over Adam. 

The room that they stepped into was a throne room, and was built very much like the one in Bright Moon. The back wall was all window, a stained glass portrait of two mighty warriors, one She-ra and the other a man who looked similar, holding their swords together in allegiance. It let in the bright light behind the thrones.

The two thrones themselves were golden, and high backed, but empty. They were several steps above the ground floor, which had three people talking. 

Two of them were the residents of the thrones, and one was their beloved Adora. She smiled happily as she talked to the other two who were older. Her hair was down, and she wore a tiara on her head, the same she wore as She-Ra, even though she wasn’t transformed. She wore a floor length white dress that was sleeveless, showing off her muscled arms. She looked regal, more royalty than she had ever appeared before. But more than that, she seemed comfortable and happy here, more than she ever was in Bright Moon. 

She was facing towards them to talk to the two people who were facing away from them, but her eyes lit up when she saw her brother. 

“Adam, there you are!” She ran over to him and he spread arms in anticipation of a hug, but then she looked more mischievous and wrapped her arms around his head in a wrestling move. Even with his strength against hers, he struggled under her hold and they both laughed as he squirmed around. “Where have you been, you missed breakfast!” Adora teased him, easily holding him down. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you still owe me your dessert for a week after losing that race!”

“Oh come on! You know that’s only valid for after dinner!” He suddenly flipped upwards strongly enough to get out of his sister’s grip and tried to wrestle her into a headlock. 

Glimmer and Catra watched, their hearts aching at the scene. This was Adora’s home… she was so happy and comfortable here, she had a  _ family _ . She had a brother-- a TWIN brother! They hesitated on the threshold by the door, unsure of how to breath. She looked beautiful…

The other two were dressed in regal robes, and wore simple bands of metal on their head as crowns, they must be the King and Queen. Their parents. They could see the resemblance. Her father had curly dark hair and bright blue eyes, her mother wore her blonde hair in a neat bun. They smiled at their children before clearing their throat, enough of a warning sign for the two to stop roughhousing. Glimmer thought she would cry at the way the four of them looked together. They were so perfect. The look Adora gave her mother was not one of apprehension, like with every single adult figure she had ever met in Bright Moon. It was bright, expecting love and safety and nothing else. 

“Adam, where were you this morning?” The Queen asked in a voice that sounded far too similar to Adora’s, but just slightly different enough to tell them apart. It was Adora, but older, wise and patient and full of every drop of nobility that she presented in herself. She crossed her arms expectantly while she looked over her son. Her robe was also sleeveless, but she wore long white gloves. The King put an arm around her shoulder in a show of support, his white suit and tails matching her perfectly. 

“I was just in the garden!” Adam said in a whine, still smiling as he shoved his sister one final time before they both stood up. Then he raised a hand to gesture to Catra and Glimmer in the doorway, and the other three took them in for the first time. “That’s where I found--”

“Catra, Glimmer!” Adora lit up at seeing them. She recognized them immediately, which surprised them both based on how the portal memories were working so far. The next thing they knew, Adora was running up to them, wrapping one arm around each of them and squeezing tight. Glimmer felt like she was going to cry. She needed this, from Adora. She knew that she was okay. But she also knew that she would have to tear her away from this just as Catra had torn her away from her father. She would need to leave behind a home, a family. 

Adora eventually peeled away, and pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads quickly, leaving a hand on their shoulders. 

“I’m so glad you guys could make it!” She said. 

“You-- you recognize us?” Catra choked out. Adora looked confused, but still happy. 

“Well yeah, of course!” She said, pushing some of her loose hair behind her ear. “I’ve been wanting to get my two favorite ladies to visit home for ages.”

The King and Queen stepped behind Adora and the Queen cleared her throat again, catching Adora’s attention. Rather than flinch, she rolled her eyes and turned around to introduce them. 

“Mom, Dad,” They could feel their hearts rip in half at her use of the words Mom and Dad. She had never said those words with such familiarity of casualness. “This is Catra, and Glimmer. Guys, these are my folks, the King and Queen of Greyskull.”

“Oh please,” The Queen smiled, and opened her arms to hug them both. “You can call us Marlena and Randor! Any friend of Adora is welcome here.” She released them both and Randor shook their hands heartily and firmly.

“Adora has told us so much about you two, I feel as though we already know you!” He agreed happily. “Please feel free to make yourselves at home during your stay here, what’s ours is yours!”

“Oh, uhm, thank you,” Glimmer said meekly. 

“Catra, what happened to you?” Adora said with concern, taking up her corrupted hand to examine it. She rolled her fingers over the static of void questioningly. 

“Wait you can see that?” Glimmer asked. Up until now she had assumed that it was like the lights, that they could only see it once they figured out this wasn’t real. 

“It’s uh, kind of an involved story--” Catra said nervously, her ears pulling back as she allowed herself to be scrutinized by Adora. 

“Doesn’t matter, I can fix you up.” Adora said confidently. She released Catra’s hand and took a deep breath. She brought her hands up to her chest, palms facing each other while slightly apart while her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. She then released the breath she was holding very evenly, and the next thing they knew Adora was glowing a magnificent golden light like She-Ra. It pulsed off of her and Glimmer could feel that it was made of pure magic, the strongest she had ever seen. 

Adora opened her eyes, now glowing a bright blue similar to She-Ra, as she reached forward and gently touched Catra’s forehead. 

Catra felt the energy of magic flow across her body, smoothing down her fur radiating from the point of contact. She gasped quickly as the warm sensation spread across her body and shut her eyes in fear. She had felt magic before, and it had never felt like this. It had never felt this… good. Like sunlight and sweet nectar. But still, it was magic, and she recoiled slightly. 

When she opened her eyes and looked down at her body, she was back to normal. Her blue eye was restored, her fur was back across her skin, and she was all there again. Adora seemed proud, and willingly let the magic slide away from her as she returned to normal. 

“How did..”

“I know, I’m getting pretty good at it, huh?” Adora boasted, hands on her hips as she enunciated the  _ pretty _ in the sentence. 

“Adora dear,” Queen Marlena chimed in from behind them, where they were catching up with Adam. “Why don’t you help our guests to their room and let them settle in before dinner.”

“Okay, mom!” Adora agreed. “I’ll meet you guys on the pavilion, we have some catching up to do!”

“You have no idea.” Catra mumbled, still taking in her cured form. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


***

  
  
  
  
  
  


Their room was extremely accommodating, nothing short of thoughtful and exquisite. Unfortunately Glimmer and Catra were unable to take in many of its finer details as they gawked wide eyed in a stupor like the undead. 

So this is the ideal world that Adora had wanted. Her heart’s desire. 

It wasn’t what Glimmer thought it would be, which was to rule over the Fright Zone happily with her oldest friend in her childhood home. 

It wasn’t what Catra thought it would be, which was to happily live with her Princess girlfriend far away from any war. 

No. It was neither. Neither of them were in her future. All she wanted, apparently, had been a family. Parents that embarrassed her in front of friends and a brother to compete with. A homeland that would let her know her own culture and identity. Answers to all her questions. 

A world where she was never taken away as a baby, stolen and forced to become a soldier. A world that let her live the life she was always supposed to have before Hordak kidnapped her by accident, setting off an irreversible chain of events. One that ended in her never being able to return, having to turn her back on her family. In this world, there was no Hordak. There was no war. And she was able to stay here, happy. She had a home. A family. 

What Adora wanted wasn’t in the future. It was in her past. 

Catra was the smart one, she was able to figure out quickly (with some help from an old friend) how to get herself out of her own funk. 

Getting Glimmer out, it broke her heart. She had to be the person to take her father away from her all over again. She had her dad back and Catra was loath to ruin it. She would never get that closure, never get to know the old man she took after so much. It almost wrecked the two of them together to get Glimmer out of Bright Moon. 

But Adora... looking at the size of their task, seeing how fully engrossed she was in this reality, would it even be possible to snap her out of it?

Even if they could, what toll would it take on Adora, on them... to take away not just one or two things that were changed, but a whole world of love?

“Sorry about Adam he can be the  _ worst _ ,” Adora rolled her eyes as she shut the double doors to the lavish suite. “You know they aren’t always like that, I swear that they always ramp it up whenever there’s people over. So annoying.” 

Even though she was complaining, there was a smile on her face. Even when she was complaining about her family, she still loved that she had one.

Glimmer and Catra shared a worried look. They communicated silently their concerns, saw that the other was clearly thinking the same thing they were. Their chests ached at their undertaking and they sought comfort in the eyes of the other, hoping to find the solace, the validation for destroying Adora’s heart. 

“Adora....” Glimmer started weakly. 

“I know it hasn’t been that long since I saw you two, but still, I’m dying to know everything.” Adora pressed on eagerly. “Eternia can wait.”

“Adora.” Catra started the same way. When Adora looked up at her there was genuine love in her eyes. She trembled under the gaze. 

“We need to talk.” Catra said. Her voice cracked. At the amount of strain that was apparent, Adora became concerned again for Catra and stepped closer to put a hand on her cheek, the side that minutes ago had been corrupted. 

“What’s wrong, Cat? Is everything okay?” 

Tears welled up in Catra’s eyes and she laid a hand on top of Adora’s on her face. 

Glimmer stepped closer and tried to pick up where Catra left off. They were in this together. But maybe it wouldn’t have to ruin everything. Maybe they could just fix this without snapping her out of it just yet. Maybe she could have this a little while longer. 

“Adora,” She said, putting a hand on Adora’s shoulder. “Where’s the sword?”

Maybe they could find it and pull it out and explain later. Adora would understand. Would she? She had to. 

Maybe they could start out slow. 

But Adora looked confused. She dropped her hand and looked at both of them. 

“The Sword of Protection? Why?”

“We... we need to find the sword, Adora.” Catra said, avoiding the question but hoping that the urgency was clear enough that they could get an answer. 

“But we live in peace times,” Adora said. “We haven’t had a need for She-Ra anywhere in the galaxy.”

“Just, please.” Glimmer was near tears, struggling to hold them back. “Tell us where it is.” She begged in a whisper. But Adora just looked more confused and shrugged. 

“You two know better than anyone where it would be. I can summon it at will if we need it.”

“What?” Catra said. 

“The sword of She-Ra, it always appears in hand when I need to transform.” Adora explained like it was common knowledge. “Ever since I got better control of my powers I have no need to carry it around.”

Catra and Glimmer shared another worried look, panicking. How would they remove the sword from the portal event if it didn’t technically always exist in this reality?

Adora looked away and clicked her tongue, sensing their discomfort and hesitation. She bit her lip for a moment and tried to think of a way to make it right. When she looked back at them, she knew what to say. 

“I know that you guys have some reservations.” She tried to comfort them. “But trust me, everything is under control.”

“Adora...” Glimmer said uneasily. 

“Just, promise me that you’ll wait until after dinner, okay? I’m gonna go check with my parents about something and let you two settle in. I’ll pick you up here for supper, alright?”

“We don’t have much time,” Catra pointed out. She hadn’t seen the cracks in the universe in a while, but she knew they were coming. They had outrun them but they would only speed up and eventually catch up to the, even all the way out here. 

“I know, time is short, I’m sorry.” Adora apologized. She took one of each of their hands in each of her own. “Just trust me, please. Save your concerns for after dinner and maybe it’ll help ease your minds. Everything is under control, okay?”

She pressed a firm and tender kiss to each of their foreheads, then left the room with a hopeful smile to them, hoping to lift their spirits.

It took a moment of taking even breaths for them to gather their thoughts. 

“Are you alright, Catra?” Glimmer asked after a bit, examining her previously infected arm. “From that corruption?”

“It’s fine.” Catra insisted. It still felt awkward over her fur, but she assumed that it was all in her head. The corruption was gone, healed by the magic of She-Ra. 

Catra looked over to the window. The afternoon sun was starting to set. Etheria did not have a sun, but rather got its heat and light as well as regular day/night cycles from the moons. The sunlight was so foreign to them, warming up their skin in such a harsher, brighter way that felt so soothing like being under a blanket. 

“We haven’t seen any of the portal’s effects here yet.” Catra thought out loud, watching the sky for cracks and glitches. “We outran it for now, but it's going to catch up, and faster than it was moving before. Entrapta said the rate it’s falling apart is getting worse, faster by the minute.”

“How much time do you think we have?”

“I don’t know....” Catra raked her claws down her hair, feeling them scratch lightly over her scalp. “Why would Adora ask us to wait until after dinner? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“All that matters is that we find the sword, and we shut it down.” Glimmer sat down on the bed gently, wringing her hands nervously. The sheets and cushions were so soft she didn’t know where her skin ended and the bed began. This whole place was like a fantasy, completely unreal in the expectations it set. 

“The only problem is… can we find the sword?” Catra continued thinking, now pacing across the room. “If she can summon it like she does with She-Ra then, how do we even begin looking for it?”

“Well that’s not the only problem.” Glimmer sighed. Catra paused and looked at her. “The other problem is… will we be able to tear all of this away from her?”

Catra’s ears turned down and she went to sit next to Glimmer on the bed. 

“We can’t stay.”

“I know..”

“And we can’t let her stay.”

“I know,” Glimmer sounded even more dejected with each response, losing more hope. “I just thought that I knew her better. And what she really wanted. But all this? We can never really give this to her, the answers about her home and her family and...”

“I know.” Catra took Glimmer’s hand. Her tail flicked at the end with uncertainty. “But... neither of us had what we really wanted, did we? I mean, sure, I would have loved it if my coup didn’t blow up in my face and I could rule over the Fright Zone. But it didn’t make me as happy as I thought it would. And I needed it to go bad so I could figure that out myself. And now, I don’t want the throne at all. I couldn’t care less. All I want is you, and Adora, the three of us safe together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah...” Catra whispered, head down. Being vulnerable and honest was still something she was learning to do, but it still made her feel uncomfortable. 

“I had my dad back but... I was still totally alone.” Glimmer said. “Without the war, there was no reason for me to meet Bow, or Adora, or you. I always hated that I grew up so isolated from peers, I had no friends. It’s like... a trade-off. One for the other, in the perfect reality.”

Catra’s ear flicked once in thought.

“Yeah... but Adora recognized us both.” She thought out loud. “And she has everything here. A family, total control of her powers, answers about her past... so what is she trading away?”

“I don’t know. Maybe that’s why it’s going to be so hard to snap her out of it, there’s no downside here. It’s just taking away every good thing that’s ever been going for her.”

Then the glitching started. It was small, as it always was when it first appeared. The window they were looking at flashed in a pixelated pink and suddenly the rectangular window turned to a circle. Glimmer and Catra felt their hearts stop in fear. It was starting again. They were running out of time. Catra stood up, her tail fur all poofed out in alarm. 

“It’s coming.”

The double doors opened and drew their attention away. In the doorway was Madame Razz. She didn’t step in, but looked around the room as though looking for someone. She shook her head.

“Nope, not here.” She said as she closed the doors again. 

They took each other’s hands and ran for the double doors. They slammed it open and burst into the hall with urgency. They found Razz, looking in every door in the castle briefly before moving on down the hall. 

“Razz!” Catra called out to her old friend. 

“Oh, dearie! Have you seen Adora?”

“You’re looking for Adora?” Glimmer asked. 

“Well of course, we were going to bring pie to Mara today,” She said cheerily, patting a basket covered in a picnic blanket that she carried. 

“Razz we found Adora.” Catra quickly explained. “We went back to the beginning, but we still don’t know how to stop it!”

“You already have, dearie.” Razz assured with a kind smile that did nothing to calm them down. “In the future. Which means you will! Unless it already happened? Don’t worry, this always happens.” 

“Ah, there you two are.” Adora said behind them. They spun around to find their radiant girlfriend waiting, arms crossed. “I thought we were gonna meet up in the room. Who were you talking to?”

Of course, in her typical fashion, especially as of late, Razz had vanished behind them as soon as they looked away. 

“Adora!” They both yelled in surprise. 

“I was just coming to get you.” Adora told them. “I wanted to show you the rest of the family, are you okay?”

“No, we need you to get the Sword of Protection.” Catra pleaded. 

“Wait, the rest of the family?” Glimmer asked. She had thought that Adam and her parents were the whole family. “There’s more?”

Over her shoulder, they could make out the thinnest cracks appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye, only as thick as spider web threads. Each time they reappeared, they were longer. Hardly noticeable, but there. 

“Oh don’t be silly, I know you’ve met before and all.” Adora teased with a wink. “But now that it’s later in the evening and they’re back from--”

“Adora, the  _ sword _ ,” Catra insisted, trying to keep her focused. The objects around them were starting to change shape in rapid glitches. 

“Adora, is that you?” King Randor called from around another corner down the hall. “Did you find them?”

“Yeah, coming dad! I’ll meet you there!” Adora called over her shoulder. Then, back to her girlfriends, “There’s a reason I wanted you to be here for dinner. Come on, let’s all just sit down and eat and relax, and then--”

“Adora look at me.” Glimmer begged, putting her hands on Adora’s upper arms. They were still just as lean and tough as she remembered them, but now void of any scars. “Adora... none of this is real.” Her heart broke to utter the words into existence, and it was almost like the cracks in reality had heard and were spreading faster now because of it. 

But even more shocking was the look of defeated sadness that quickly crossed Adora’s face. 

“I know.” She said sadly, tinted with a bit of lingering hope. 

“What!?” They both yelled at the same time. 

“I know that this isn’t real.” Adora affirmed, a bit defeated. “I know I can be oblivious sometimes, but I figured it out.”

“You knew?” Catra squeaked in shock. “You knew that this was all fake but you kept on... why? How?”

As though in response to the spike in their own emotions at the news, the glitching worsened. It became larger, more frequent, making a shrill noise when it appeared and sucking it back into the vacuum it came from just as quickly. 

“Because of the same reason I wanted you to come to dinner. If you saw them then you’d just understand, then you would see why we  _ can’t _ go,” 

“Who?” Glimmer asked. Tears were in her eyes. They were running out of time. “Who could be more important than the whole reality of the universe, Adora?” She cried out. “Listen, I get it, okay? I had my dad back. And I thought it was perfect, in a world where I didn’t lose him, but--”

“It’s not someone I lost.” Adora’s voice rose in desperation. She backed away half a step. 

“Mom?” a young voice called out from behind Adora, the same direction that Randor had called from. Their blood turned to ice in their veins and Adora spun around to try and find the source of the voice. 

Catra’s stomach dropped and her heart leapt up into her throat. Her eyes went wide and she felt her knees wobble beneath her. 

“No...” She whispered. “No…” Her hand flew up to her mouth to keep a strangled cry in and she bit her tongue. 

Glimmer’s mind was spinning. She felt like the whole world was crumbling down on top of her, the hallway becoming longer and narrower and darker as she singled in all her focus onto the sound of the child’s voice. Tears sprung from her eyes and fell like twin waterfalls across her face. She searched down the empty hall, her watery eyes scanning for the child. 

Catra didn’t look up. She couldn’t. She wanted to. But if she did, she knew she would never be able to go back. She couldn’t look. If she wanted to get them out of here, she couldn’t look. Even if it physically pained her, even if it killed her she couldn’t look. She wouldn’t. 

“Adora....” Glimmer whispered. She shook where she stood. She reached out and grabbed Adora’s hand to keep her close, even though she tried to pull away towards the voice. 

Around them, the world shattered apart slowly. It reformed in an instant only to break apart again in a more devastating display of lights. It came and went faster than they could keep track of. 

“Mamma?” Another child’s voice, this one even younger, joined the first. 

“I’m coming,” Adora promised, pulling weakly at Glimmer’s hand. She could have escaped if she wanted to, but was too confused at why her girlfriend would restrain her from meeting her own children.

“Adora you can’t.” Glimmer cried. “It isn’t real,”

“They need me, I have to--”

“Adora they aren’t real!” Catra cried, forgetting how to breathe. She still didn’t dare look over Adora’s shoulder for the children. 

“I can’t just leave them, they're my children,” Adora yelled back, becoming more frantic. “They’re  _ your _ children! They’re  _ ours _ and we can’t leave them,”

“They aren’t real, Adora!” Catra repeated. She could feel her heart bursting in her chest at the pain, the emotional toll. She never thought it would come to this. She didn’t want to tear Adora away from a family, her own babies, never to see them again. But she couldn’t leave behind Adora. 

“I don’t care,” Adora insisted, pulling free. But Glimmer and Catra both wrapped their arms around her in order to hold her back, and the three of them fought for control as Adora desperately wanted to move more towards the lights. Glimmer and Catra had to drag her away with all their strength as Adora grew manic, screaming and fighting against them. 

“I need to get to my babies!” She cried. “I can protect them! I won’t leave them!” She kept crying out in a similar fashion. It wasn’t long before parts of the cracks in the world started to meet up, and the closed shapes began to crumble away, leaving a pink void in their wake. 

“Adora please!” Glimmer begged. “We need to go! This isn’t real!” 

“I won’t let it take you, Adora!” Catra added over Adora’s desperate pleas. 

“Moms!” The older of the two young voices called again, excited to see their mothers after coming home from school, and this time they could tell that they were right behind the door at the end of the hallway. But in that direction, most of the hallway was missing, as objects started floating and glitching in the void wind that Catra and Glimmer recognized well when they escaped the Whispering Woods. There was no way to escape now, they were approaching the eye of the vortex.

Adora reached out towards the door, her girlfriends holding her back as she continued to scream her desire to meet the children. Finally the walls gave way and the beautiful palace around them crumbled into nothing, swirling in a vortex of void of barren space, and all was left was the shrinking ground they were left standing on. 

Entrapta was right, it was falling apart faster and faster. 

Just like that, everything was gone. They were left with just the three of them, collapsing in exhaustion, on the ground where they stood. Surrounding them was the swirling cosmic wind, carrying the debris of so many worlds as it fell apart even further. The pink light was all around them, consuming everything it touched and making it cease to exist. 

Adora fell on her hands and knees, shaking to hold back her silent sobs. Catra and Glimmer finally backed off, and fell to their knees as well behind her. Adora’s loose hair fell around her downturned face, concealing part of her pain. 

They could hardly wrap their heads around what had just happened, what they had been forced to do... it would haunt them for years to come. All of them. Having to pull Adora, frantic and wild, away from her children which did not exist, which they needed to abandon. A small part of them would never recover from this, from what they saw and what they had to do. 

But for now, they were at wits end. At the end of the world. With no way out. 

They were in the eye of the storm, their small island of safety closing in slowly. Soon it would consume them and the universe would be no more. 

“Adora dearie, what’s wrong?” All of them looked up in shock, though their faces showed only their own heartbreak, and saw Razz. She had reappeared with her basket and broomstick, and seemed confused and sad that she had found them crying. 

“Razz?” Glimmer said.  _ Great _ she thought.  _ Another cryptic riddle. Another person we failed to save _ . 

“Oh chin up, dearie.” Razz encouraged Adora with a hand on her chin, wiping away the tears with her thumb. “Everything will be alright in the end. And if it is not alright, then it is not the end.” She said, squatting down to be eye level with Adora. “I should know, I have seen this all before.”

“Razz, I’m sorry.” Adora croaked. “It’s too late. We couldn’t save the universe, we couldn’t save anyone.” 

“There is still time, dear.” Razz informed her, her voice full of wisdom. She spoke as though she knew exactly what was happening, as though she knew that things would be okay. The island they stood on became smaller still as more of the wind peeled away the debris of the edges, crumbling it apart in little bits getting closer to the center. Razz took Adora’s hands in her own, comforting her like a grandmother. “This has all happened before, dearie. And it will happen again.” 

That’s when Catra looked up and saw it. She gasped and it caused the other two women to follow her gaze.

Two hundred meters overhead, was the sword of protection. It hovered perfectly still in the exact center of the vortex as winds flew around it strongly. It radiated with magical energy, overflowing with cosmic power as it sustained the growing void around them. 

“It can still be made right.” Razz said calmly. 

The three girls stood up and gazed upwards at the sword. They knew what they had to do. 

“I can still pull it out...” Adora realized quietly. “I can pull out the sword and everything will go back to normal.” She was already calculating how to make her way up to it, perhaps jumping on the various debris of broken castle and woods that swirled around them. But Catra grabbed her hand.

“No wait,” She said, causing them all to turn to Catra. “You can’t. The world needs She-ra.”

“What are you saying?” Adora asked. Glimmer’s heart sank as she realized what she was implying. 

“Catra are you saying that... Are you saying that whoever pulls out the sword... won’t come back?”

“Whoever pulls it out will be trapped in this void reality, forever.” Catra confirmed, avoiding their gazes. 

“I don’t care what it costs,” Adora argued. “I need to do this. It’s my fault, I need to fix it to save everyone. This is my destiny.”

“Adora stop.” Glimmer cut her off. “This isn’t your fault and you don’t need to constantly throw yourself at every danger to help others!” She argued. “You’re constantly sacrificing y our own health, or safety, or happiness, just so that you can give that to others. But not this time. Let me do this, for you. For both of you.”

“No way!” Catra contended, at the same time that Adora said “Glimmer no,” But she shook her head. 

“No you two are both princesses, the world needs you.” Catra spoke up. “People need Bright Moon and She-Ra, let me do this. Please, I’m not important enough and the world already hates me for what I did in the horde anyway. There’s no forgiveness for me out there, but the world needs you both. I’ll do this, for you.”

“No, no, I won’t lose you again Catra!” Adora said. “I already let you go once I can’t do it again! It’s my sword that’s caused all this, it’s She-Ra’s destiny to save the universe. It’s my destiny to do this!”

“That’s exactly what you said last time!” Razz spoke up, shocking them all into silence. They waited for her to continue. “Mara please...”

They were able to put together the pieces independently. This had all happened before, when Mara was around. And she had been the one to close the portal last time. She probably said the same thing Adora was, about her destiny. 

If she closed it before then.... She was probably still here, trapped in the void. 

“Mara promised we could have pie.” Razz said sadly, with a smile. She patted the basket on her arm while she looked up at the sword again. Their island became smaller and forced them all closer together. She looked back to Adora and took her hands. 

“It’s okay, dearie. Destiny is what you choose. Mara made her choice. And now Razz is making a choice.” 

She pulled Adora into a hug, one that Adora was too shocked to realize to hug back until the last moment. 

Then she turned away and jumped into the whirlwind of cosmic chaos, being carried away.

“Razz, no!” Adora called out.

She reached up as though she could grab Razz and stop her, but the path was obscured and crumbling apart ever faster. By now their island was so small that they had to huddle together to stay upon it without falling off, it was only inches away from breaking enough to separate them, to let them fall to the void and stop existing. They were all helpless to do anything but watch in the short seconds it took Razz to find her way to the sword.

She rested her hands on the hilt, and took one last glance down at them. She was so excited to see Mara again, but she was sad to see them for the last time. 

“Take care of each other.” She spoke as she released the sword from the vortex of the portal.

The last thing Adora saw was blinding white light, strong and bright enough that she wondered if the world existed at all anymore, if she would ever see again. It was accompanied with a strong shrill sound, like something were screeching to a halt from an incredible speed. It was so strong that she couldn’t even hear her own cries of pain in reaction to the light and sound. 

Then, everything went deathly silent. Crushingly silent. So silent it made her ears ache and her heart race. The bright light of the void prevailed, blocking everything from view and Adora didn’t know if she was alone or not, if she had stopped existing. Adora floated, helpless, lost in the abyss of the void.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The deafening crash of machinery began to replace the high pitched ringing in Adora’s ears. The white light faded to a total blackness. 

She remembered she had to breathe and sharply inhaled as though waking from a dream. 

She opened her eyes. 

She-Ra stood in the ruins of Hordak’s lab. 

The portal was out of control, lifting objects in the room and tossing them around on the wind it created. 

The portal was behind her, creating a vortex of pink light that she was familiar with. Without stopping to take in any other detail, she immediately lifted her sword and slashed through it violently. The lights and gravity went back to normal immediately as the pieces of the machine fell asunder. The pink lights of the abyssal void flickered away, leaving bright spots in She-Ra’s vision. 

It was done. The portal was no more. 

Her next priority was her girlfriends. 

She spun around and threw her sword into the ground at the magical barrier, breaking the seal in the dark magic. The spell slowly retreated from Catra and Glimmer’s paralyzed bodies, and they breathed deeply, desperate for fresh air, their knees trembling. 

“Adora!” Glimmer was quick to throw her arms around Adora’s shoulders. 

“Catra, Glimmer!” Adora choked, holding back tears. 

Catra’s hair was back to its shorter length. Glimmer’s magic was restored. And Adora had the sword of Protection. They were back in their own world, the only real reality. They did it. 

While Adora, Catra, and Glimmer all fell to their knees in relief, embracing one another gratefully, Hordak was still too caught up in the destruction of his work and plans. He looked around the room, his lab destroyed. His body was weak, without the data crystal to support his armor. There was no dignified way out of this for him.

His desperate eyes landed on a pod hooked up to a monitor. Perhaps there was no way out this time. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


Adora, Glimmer, and Catra all returned to Bright Moon and were relieved to find the world they once left behind renewed again. They didn’t talk about what happened in the portal reality, not yet. It was too soon, too fresh to discuss it on the way back. First they needed the comfort of their familiar home. 

They were greeted by Angella as soon as they were within view, who smothered them in affection on sight. 

“Glimmer, thank heaven you’re alright!” She cried. “And Adora, Catra, I was so worried about you two!” 

“Moooom!” Glimmer whined in protest, trying to squirm her way out of the group hug embrace that Angella had initiated. Adora was quietly resigned, perhaps grateful for the affection from a mother figure and perhaps guilty about the one that she had imagined to replace Angella. Catra whined as well, but she didn’t try to escape, allowing herself to be comforted by Angella. 

“Catra I’m so sorry!” Angella started crying when she released them. “Can you forgive me for not remembering you? If I had known I never would have done the spell,”

And that was how they learned that everyone in the portal that they saw and met remembered it too. Not just them, who were in it. It was their whole world that was encompassed by the portal. 

“Commander, it’s fine, really--”

Catra’s ears pointed downwards as she let Angella fuss over the three of them. They were interrupted by Bow running up and yelling with his arms spread wide. He immediately collided with the group in another hug that knocked them to the ground. 

“You guys are not allowed to have close calls like that again!” He cried into the three. “That was so scary I was so worried about you!”

Even Renee came out and anxiously apologized to Catra for holding her prisoner. She gave Adora a hug when she saw her, the first time the two of them had ever hugged rather than salute. But after all the years, she was like an aunt to Adora. She gave the young woman a smile before fussing over the princess, resorting back to her normal duties. 

Between the three of them, it was about what they could have expected on their return home. And they wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

The day moon was setting, in a starless sky, concluding the day of their adventure. Apparently as soon as the portal was destroyed, Renee sent a dispatch of special ops to apprehend Hordak. She was informed by the three heros that he had slipped away in all the chaos, but that the Fright Zone was abandoned and ready to be claimed for the rebellion. 

It meant one thing: The war was over.

Hordak was defeated, the Fright Zone was in ruin, the Horde was no more. The rebellion had secured their victory and the war that plagued the land for generations was over. 

In the morning, there would be massive celebrations, festivals, and parades. But for now, the news had not spread far beyond Bright Moon. And they were tired. 

Adora was able to hold her She-Ra form for as long as she could, but dropped it just outside of Bright Moon. Her injuries from Hordak’s torture remained, and the pain almost knocked her out. But she was able to receive immediate medical attention and got fixed up in no time. She had a few new scars to add to her growing collection thanks to Hordak, and would have to find a way to eat without one hand, since three of her fingers were broken. She was mainly tired, and insisted that she would be fine with enough rest. Out of all of them, she was the most quiet. Only Glimmer and Catra knew why, and they understood. They didn’t tell anyone else what had happened, but expected to talk about it among each other later.

Glimmer rested by the Moon Stone, recharging her powers after the exhausting trip back. Even though she had used up every ounce of magic she had to fly her and Catra away from the void, it didn’t seem to affect her full tank of energy from before the portal. And yet, shockingly, there were twin marks on her back, almost like a sunburn or a scar, in the shape of isosceles triangles like wings that took up the whole height of her back. It was not especially noticeable, but Glimmer did feel some magic wanting to return there when she recharged, as though in preparation should she need it again. Even though she tried, she could not summon them, and was left with the scars of her wings for now. 

Catra radio’ed in to Scorpia right away, first to make sure that she was safe. And secondly, to make a plan to rescue Entrapta. And, of course, to thank her, for all her support and everything that they had risked to help her get the info she needed to the people who needed it about how to save the world. According to Adora, Hordak said that Entrapta was banished to the Crimson Waste, a desolate wasteland of a desert that few survived. Yet in a way, it was good news. She wasn’t sent to Beast Island, where her death would be quick and certain. This way, there was hope that they could get her back. And knowing Entrapta, she would be able to take care of herself and collect all kinds of new data until Scorpia and Catra came to rescue her. 

In the morning, Glimmer would make the announcement to the Princess Alliance and to the people of Bright Moon that the war was over. It hadn’t ended with a bang or a fated clash of rivals, but she had accomplished what she had set out to do all those years ago when she lost her father. The Princesses would announce to their own kingdoms the news. It would be celebrated as the day of liberation from the Horde.

But now, night was upon them, and they rested. 

They all slept together in Glimmer’s room these days, but with a bed on ground level to avoid another crash to the ground under the weight of three adults. It had been this way for months now, the three of them spooning (Adora the big spoon, Glimmer in the middle, and Catra the smallest spoon) to sleep. 

Glimmer sat in bed, her back on the headboard that was against the wall. Catra sat to the edge of the bed, elbows on her knees. And Adora was sitting on the window seat, looking outside at the darkness and looking at the sky. There had been a time where Adora underwent an especially difficult training hologram with Light Hope, one that lasted so long and felt so real that when she did return, she wasn’t sure if she was still in the simulation or in the real world again. She was constantly staring at the sky, waiting for it to glitch, watching for any errors which would prove that this world was not hers. She had that same look in her eye again, the one not of distrust, but of anxiety, so sure that any moment her happiness could be ripped away again.

They talked. 

They talked all night about what had happened. About how Catra was the dictator of an army. About what happened to Scorpia and Entrapta before Catra learned how to shut off the portal. About how Glimmer had her dad back. About why Glimmer couldn’t leave Catra behind. And they talked a lot, for hours, about Adora’s portal vision. About Razz, and Mara, and their sacrifice. 

It hurt.

They all took their turns crying, revealing some deep truths they hadn’t realized, feeling guilty about how things should have been different. They mourned the loss of Madame Razz. But they also realized that she was finally with her Mara, and it’s what she wanted. They had to follow her advice and take care of each other. Sometimes they fought, but it didn’t last long. Not as much as they comforted each other. 

They were burdened with guilt over what they had to do, especially towards the end. All of them had a reason to take the sword, believing it to be the right thing to do. Glimmer and Catra felt awful for tearing Adora away from her reality, kicking and screaming, and the image, the sounds, would haunt all three of them for years to come. They would all suffer from nightmares of Catra covered in corrupted black abyss, or Adora's missing children, or the end of the world. 

They talked about what they really wanted and it turned out, that for all of them, it wasn't something that the portal could give them. Glimmer couldn't get her father back. Catra no longer wanted to rule an empire. And Adora didn't care about finding the answers to her past. What they wanted was real, something that the portal didn't give any of them: each other. 

But in the end, as the day moon rose again, they all had each other. They all knew that this was the reality that they wanted, the one where they could be together. They finally fell asleep in a pile on the bed, on top of the sheets. And the castle residents knew better than to disturb them.

A new day rose on Etheria. One of peace in the land and love in their hearts.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I just posted the update today, but I wanted to finish it out before the end of the weekend when I would get too busy to post again. So I'm finishing it today. Also! Will post an epilogue in a bit once I finish editing it, then let both of those marinate over the week before I go back to writing for The Beast You Made Me. 
> 
> As always, PLEASE comment with your thoughts! Your validation gives me the strength to do things!!!

**Author's Note:**

> HMM perhaps posting the beginning of this unfinished piece will encourage me with a deadline to finish it! Sorry I haven't posted in a while I'm thinking about doing other projects and also have strep throat which is no bueno.   
> Please comment with your thoughts. I love hearing from fans!


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